Raiffeisen Bank posted a net profit of EUR 96 million in 2011, up 16 percent over the previous year, when the profit was EUR 83 million, the bank has announced. The increase was mainly due to the quality of the loan portfolio, a stable level of provisions, and solid capitalization of the bank.

The banks’ total assets were of EUR 5.5 billion at the end of 2011, up 8 percent compared to the same period in 2010. Raiffeisen’s volume of loans also increased by 16 percent over 2010, to EUR 3.5 billion, while the volume of deposits went up 7 percent, to EUR 3.9 billion. The loan/deposit ratio was 89 percent at the end of 2011.

Expenses with provisions remained at EUR 48 million in 2011, while the lending activity remains at a fairly low level.  The non-performing loans decreased to 6.4 percent at the end of 2011, compared to 7.6 percent in late-2010, mainly due to the high quality of new loans.

The retail assets increased by about 18 percent last year, while deposits went up 15 percent, according to the bank. “We are pleased with the way the SMEs segment evolved, 26 percent increase in lending and 17 percent increase on liabilities, from 2010,” said Steven van Groningen, President and CEO of Raiffeisen Bank Romania.

The bank’s number of clients remained at the same level as in 2010, of 2 million individuals, 100,000 SMEs and 8,000 companies. At the end of 2011, Raiffeisen Bank had 543 units, up from 540 in 2010, and 5,911 employees, down from 6,104 in 2010.

Raiffeisen Bank International holds a 99.49 percent stake in Raiffeisen Bank Romania.

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