The consolidated net profit of Banca Transilvania (TLV), Romania's biggest financial group by assets, decreased by 20% to RON 1.48 billion (just over EUR 300 million) in 2020.

The group's assets reached RON 107 bln (EUR 22 bln), 17.2% more than the previous year.

Banca Transilvania's individual net profit dropped by 26% to RON 1.2 bln (EUR 247 mln), while its operating income edged down by 2.3% to RON 3.9 bln (812 mln). The decline was slightly steeper than that calculated for the whole banking system, which lost one-fifth of its aggregated net profit last year amid provisioning ahead of the loan portfolio deterioration.

But Banca Transilvania's profitability remained above the market average, detailed figures show. The bank generated nearly one-quarter of the banking system's aggregated profit (RON 5.16 bln) in 2020 - while its assets account for less than one-fifth of the RON 560 bln banking system's assets at the end of the year (up 5% from the end of 2019). Banca Transilvania's assets rose much faster than the market average, by 18.2% to RON 103.4 billion (EUR 21.2 bln) at the end of 2020.

Banca Transilvania's Chairman of the Board, Horia Ciorcila, said that the bank's bottom line exceeded initial projections sketched last year when the COVID-19 crisis hit the country.

"For this forthcoming year, we are optimistic about BT, paying attention to trends but also to new opportunities. We maintain our firm commitment to contributing to the relaunch of the business environment," he added.

The results for 2020 consolidated the group's robust capitalization, with the equity reaching RON 9.5 billion, up 12% compared to 2019.

Banca Transilvania has nearly 70% Romanian capital and more than 34,000 direct Romanian individual shareholders. The group's market capitalization is currently RON 12.48 bln (EUR 2.56 bln).

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: the company)