August 31 (SeeNews) - Slovenian lender Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM), recently privatised by Apollo Global Management and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said on Wednesday its consolidated net profit more than doubled to 29.3 million euro ($32.6 million) in the first half from 12.3 million euro in the same period last year on the back of lower impairments.
The lender's consolidated net interest income fell 4.9% on the year to 47.5 million euro in January-June, while net fee and commission income dropped 14.4% to 23.6 million euro, it said in a filing with the Ljubljana bourse.
NKBM's operating costs edged up 1.5% to 47.7 million euro, while net impairment losses plummeted to 5.7 million euro from 26.2 million euro in the first half of 2015.
NKBM reversed net impairment charges of 344,000 euro in the first half of 2016, while it recorded net impairment charges of 21.4 million euro in the same period last year.
The lender's total assets reached 4.2 billion euro at the end of June, down 0.5% from end-2015, while its NPL ratio decreased to 15.96% from 17.01% at end-2015.
The privatisation of 100% of NKBM was completed on April 21, when Slovenia received the sale proceeds of 250 million euro. Presently, US-based alternative investment manager Apollo Global Management owns 80% of NKBM, and the EBRD holds the balance.
NKBM was rescued by the government in Ljubljana alongside peers NLB and Abanka in late 2013, when the tiny Alpine state narrowly avoided an international bailout. At the time, NKBM was the nation's second largest lender.
($=0.8985 euro)
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