Romanian banks' H1 profit rises 1.6% y/y, NPL ratio drops

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of Romania's banking system decreased to 4.38% at the end of the first half of 2020, from 4.74% a year earlier, according to a Romanian central bank report published on Friday.

Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) both ended the first six months of the year in positive territory - at 1.08% and 9.81%, respectively.

Romanian banks' total net assets increased to 518.5 billion lei at the end of June 2020 from 458.8 billion lei a year earlier.

The Romanian banking system's capital adequacy ratio rose to 22.76% at the end of June from 19.6% at the end of last year.

There were 33 banks operating in Romania at the end of June 2020.

The combined profit of Romanian banks fell by 7% year on year to 6.39 billion lei in 2019, as the NPL ratio dropped to 4.1%.

(1 euro=4.8675 Romanian lei)