BRD-SocGen (BVB: BRD), the third-largest bank by assets on the Romanian local market, announced that its net profit surged by 27% y/y to RON 1.63 billion (EUR 320 million) in 2023, whereas its revenues advanced by only 13% y/y to RON 3.7 billion. 

The new CEO of BRD-SocGen, Maria Rousseva, appointed last September, did not comment on the rumors related to the sale of the entire or parts of the BRD-SocGen.

"We are confident in who we are and what we have to offer. We are ambitious for the future (...). We are still aiming for the 3rd place in the market," she said at the conference to present the financial results of 2023, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The bank's total assets also increased by 13% y/y to RON 81.3 billion at the end of 2023. 

The return on assets (ROA) thus improved from 1.8% in 2022, when the ratio was 1.5% for the entire banking system, to 2.0% in 2023 (no data available for the entire banking system). 

The provisioning operations played a moderate but positive role in the bank's profitability. The cost of risk recorded a net release of RON 57.4 million during 2023, compared to a net expense of RON 95.1 million in 2022, considering the continuous recoveries of non-performing exposures and the limited formation of non-performing loans.

During 2023, the quality of the bank's assets continued to improve, with the NPL ratio falling below 2% (1.9% at the end of 2023 compared to 2.6% at the end of 2022), while the NPL coverage ratio remained comfortable (75.9% at the end of 2023 compared to 76.5% at the end of 2023, at the level of the bank).

At the level of the entire financial group BRD-SocGen (including the bank and the other units), net profit last year was RON 1.65 billion (+24% y/y), revenues were RON 3.83 billion (+10% y/y), and total assets were RON 83.4 billion (+13% y/y).

iulian@romania-insider.com

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