(releads with 2009 net profit forecast, bank official's comments)
CHISINAU (Moldova), September 11 (SeeNews) – Moldovan commercial bank FinComBank said on Friday it expects a net profit of up to 20 million lei ($1.8 million/1.2 million euro) this year, down from 60.6 million lei in 2008, after reporting a 95% drop in its first-half net profit.
“We expect our net profit to reach 15 million lei to 20 million lei this year and the value of extended loans and attracted deposits to remain at last year’s level,” the head of FinComBank's marketing department, Alexandr Bobarykin, told SeeNews.
The lender reported earlier on Friday a first-half net profit of 1.81 million lei, down from 36.8 million a year earlier.
Bobarykin said that the bank operated in tough market conditions in the first half of 2009, amid worsening global financial crisis and unstable political situation in the country.
"These factors have led to a fall in deposits held by individuals, less loans extended by the bank and as a result the bank’s profit fell in the first half," Bobarykin said.
FinComBank’s loan portfolio decreased to 948 million lei at the end of June from 1.12 billion lei a year earlier. Deposits fell to 918.5 million lei in the first half from 1.19 billion lei in the same period of 2008.
"We try to overcome the crisis through optimising our costs and launching new products for individuals and small and medium-sized companies," Bobarykin said.
Following are data from FinComBank's first-half balance sheet and income statement (in millions of lei):
|
H1'09 |
H1'08 |
Net Profit/Loss |
1.810 |
36.79 |
Total Assets |
1,727.8 |
1,739.8 |
Credit portfolio |
947.99 |
1,119.7 |
Deposits |
918.45 |
1,186.4 |
U.S. government-backed private equity fund Western NIS Enterprise Fund holds a 25% stake in FinComBank. The bank has 131 shareholders.
(1 euro=16.3283 Moldovan lei)