May 15 (SeeNews) - Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) said on Wednesday that its profit after tax from operations in Bulgaria rose to 12 million euro ($13.5 million) in the first quarter of 2019 from 9 million euro in the same period of 2018.
The lender's operating income in Bulgaria increased to 44 million euro in the January-March period of 2019 from 38 million euro in the comparable period of 2018, RBI said in an interim financial statement.
Net interest income edged up to 26 million euro in the review period from 25 million euro a year earlier, while net fee and commission income grew to 13 million euro from 11 million euro.
General administrative expenses rose slightly, to 25 million euro in the first three months of 2019 from 24 million euro in the prior-year period.
RBI's assets in the country increased to 4.17 billion euro at the end of March from 3.76 billion euro a year earlier.
Loans to customers rose to 2.72 billion euro from 2.34 billion euro, while deposits grew to 3.22 billion euro from 2.77 billion euro.
The lender's NPE ratio in Bulgaria improved to 2.0% from 3.0% the year before.
RBI operated 146 business outlets in Bulgaria at the end of March, same as a year earlier. The group employed 2,606 employees at the end of March, 5 more compared to a year earlier.
($ = 0.8918 euro)