Austrian banking group Erste, which owns the largest Romanian lender BCR, estimates a net profit of EUR 560 million in the second quarter of this year.

The positive results have been influenced by the release of risk provisions worth about EUR 30 million in Romania and Hungary.

Erste also increased its profit due to the sale of its stake in card payment processor Visa. The deal reached EUR 139 million.

The banking group’s profit in the first six months of the year thus totaled EUR 830 million. The estimate includes a buffer for a potential banking tax one-off payment in Austria in 2016.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Erstegroup.com)