ING Bank Romania posted a pretax profit of RON 216 million (some EUR 48 million) in 2013, down 7 percent year-on-year.

The bank’s assets went up 11 percent to some RON 18 billion (EUR 4 billion), while the credit and placement portfolio increased to RON 10.5 billion (EUR 2.3 billion).

The result was mainly influenced by increased investments in technology and product development, and keeping the net income at a level similar to the previous year: RON 844 million (some EUR 191 million) in 2013, slightly up from RON 833 million (EUR 187 million) the year before.

“2013 was an investment year for ING Romania. We’ve invested in technology and product development which stay at the base of our strategy to grow smarter. In 2014, we’ll continue to invest in new products and services and we’ll continue the lending in domestic currency,” said Michal Szczurek, CEO ING Bank Romania, quoted by local Wall-street.ro.

In 2012, the bank posted a pre-tax profit of some EUR 52 million in Romania, a 44 percent year-on-year increase.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com