August 7 (SeeNews) - Italian banking and financial services group UniCredit said on Wednesday that its consolidated net profit from operations in Bulgaria rose by an annual 6.1% to 96 million euro ($107.4 million) in the first half of 2019, backed by higher revenue.
UniCredit's operating income in Bulgaria grew 4.1% year-on-year to 247 million euro in the January-June period of 2019, the lender said in an interim financial statement.
Net interest income fell 2.2% to 141 million euro in the review period, while net fee and commission income added 5.8% to 65 million euro.
Net trading income jumped 28.5% to 50 million euro in the first six months of the year.
Payroll costs were 7.9% higher on the year at 40 million euro, while other administrative expenses increased 6.6% to 28 million euro.
Amortisation and depreciation costs slid 2.8% to 8 million euro.
Net write-downs of loans fell 8% to 31 million euro.
The group's customer loan portfolio in Bulgaria gained 9.7% to 6.04 billion euro, while customer deposits grew 6.0% to 8.25 billion euro.
UniCredit had 151 branches in Bulgaria at the end of June, 5 less compared to a year earlier.
UniCredit's banking unit in Bulgaria - UniCredit Bulbank, is the country's largest lender by assets, according to central bank data.
($ = 0.8940 euro)
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