Romania’s second-biggest bank by assets, Banca Comercială Romana (BCR, part of Erste Group), achieved a net profit of RON 691 mln (EUR 141 mln) in the first half (H1) of 2021, up by 38.5% compared to the same period last year.

The stock of net customer loans granted by BCR advanced by 10.7% year-on-year (YoY) as of 30 June 2021 (+11.2% YoY, market’s average).

The sharp advance in profit posted by the bank occurred amid higher business volume and lower cost of risk.

Bank’s operating result improved by 12.7% YoY to RON 1,013 mln (EUR 207 mln) in H1, on the back of higher operating income along with lower operating expenses.

Impairment from financial instruments recorded an allocation of RON 77.2 mln (EUR 15.8 mln) in H1 2021, significantly lower as compared to RON 170 mln (EUR 35.3 mln) booked in H1 2020.

The NPL ratio stood at 4.3% as of June 2021, slightly lower than the 4.5% recorded as of December 2020.

This evolution reflects the positive trend in loans to customers and was also supported by a low NPL formation.

At the same time, the NPL provisioning coverage stood at 125.3% as of June 2021.

The stock of loans and advances to customers increased by 4.3% year-to-date (YTD) to RON 44,873 mln (EUR 9,106 mln) as of 30 June 2021 from RON 43,003 mln (EUR 8,833 mln) as of 31 December 2020, supported by increases in both retail (+3.0% YTD) and corporate (+5.1% YTD).

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andrei@romania-insider.com