February 28 (SeeNews) - Serbia's Erste Bank Novi Sad said on Tuesday its net profit surged 74% to 2.065 billion dinars ($17.7 million/16.7 million euro) in 2016 on the back of a rise in lending.
Net interest income rose by 10.5% to 5.823 billion dinars in 2016, the bank said in a statement. Non-performing loan (NPL) ratio stood at 6.7%, below the sector average.
"In 2016, customers took advantage of the favourable market environment to make new investments, which we supported through increased lending especially in the area of working with industry. As for the households, in 2016 there was a noticeably increased demand for the purchase of flats, and housing loans recorded an increase in volumes by a quarter," Erste Bank Novi Sad CEO Slavko Caric said in the statement.
Erste Bank Novi Sad's balance expanded by 21.6% in 2016 to 142.9 billion dinars.
Loans to households increased 14% to 37.6 billion dinars, while deposits of individuals grew 17% to 50.9 billion dinars.
The bank's corporate loan portfolio expanded by 20% to 59.3 billion dinars, while corporate deposits fell 9.8% to 23.9 billion dinars.
Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) came in at 16.27% at end-December.
Serbia's Erste Bank, based in the city of Novi Sad, is part of Erste Group, which serves over 16 million clients in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia.
The Erste Bank network in Serbia consists of 73 retail branches, as well as 10 corporate centres. Erste Bank Novi Sad employs nearly 1,000 staff.
(1 euro=123.872 dinars)
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