BRD-SocGen’s 9M earnings severely hit by COVID-19 provisioning

The net profit of BRD-SocGen, the third-biggest Romanian bank by assets, plunged to RON 719 million (EUR 148 mln) in the first nine months of the year, down 43% compared to the same period in 2019.

The bank incurred net expense with provisions of RON 253 mln (EUR 50 mln) to reflect the impact of the worsening macroeconomic scenarios on the estimated losses from lending. In comparison, it had released provisions worth RON 207 mln (EUR 45 mln) in the first nine months of 2019.

The whole BRD group reported a net profit of RON 738 mln (EUR 152 mln), 40% lower than in the similar period of last year.

The total assets at the end of September 2020 were 9% higher compared to September 2019 and 6% higher than at the end of 2019, both at the group level (RON 61.2 billion, or EUR 12.5 bln) and the bank level (RON 59.2 bln, or EUR 12.2 bln).

Lending has not advanced significantly: the stock of net loans at the group level, including leasing, reached the value of RON 31.2 bln (EUR 6.4 bln), a mere 0.2% up compared to September 2019. But the outlook improved recently.

"If the second quarter was marked by a sharp decline in the production of retail loans in the context of restrictive measures, activity gained momentum in the third quarter, with new consumer loans granted exceeding pre-crisis levels. BRD is also actively involved in the IMM Invest program, with almost RON 700 mln in loans for SMEs and microenterprises, approved at the end of September," said Francois Bloch General Manager of BRD Groupe Societe Generale.

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