BRD Group reported a net profit of RON 414 million (some EUR 89 million) for the first quarter of 2018 in Romania, up 26% year-on-year. This came against healthy revenue generation, quasi stable operating expenses and positive cost of risk, the bank said.

The net banking income amounted to RON 724 million (EUR 155.6 million), up 11.4% y-o-y and increasing across all the main lines. The net interest income increased at double-digit rate (+14.2%), driven by positive volume effect and the rising trend in interest rates. The net fees and commissions income went up 5.2%, benefiting from an increasing number of transactions and higher revenues from custody and depository services.

The operating expenses reached RON 385 million (EUR 82.7 million), quasi stable versus Q1-2017 (up 0.2%). The staff costs were 11.3% higher, as a result of compensation package adjustments, in line with market conditions, in a tight labor market context.

The bank increased the number of active customers by 37,000 y-o-y. Of these, 33,000 were individuals and 4,000 small business customers.

Net loans amounted to RON 30.4 billion (EUR 6.5 billion), up 5% compared to the similar period of 2017, thanks to more intense credit activity on individuals and large corporate client segments.

Individuals’ net loan outstanding expanded by 7.8% y-o-y pushed by strong loan production, which rose by 9.0% y-o-y, to RON 1.4 billion (some EUR 301 million). In this context, on the credits to households segment, BRD had a market share of 16.9% at the end of March 2018. The non-retail segment saw a robust performance on large corporate clients, up 5.9% y-o-y.

Deposits increased by 6.0% y-o-y, pushed up by both retail and non-retail savings.

“The first quarter of 2018 was very dynamic as shown by the continuous increase in loans, deposits and transaction volumes which, together with the favorable interest rate context, translated into a double-digit increase in net banking income,” Francois Bloch, CEO of BRD Groupe Société Générale, said.

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editor@romania-insider.com