BCR profit halves to 100m lei according to Romanian Accounting Standards

Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) last year posted a 100-105 million-lei profit, according to Romanian accounting standards (RAS), less than half the 2009 profit, said shareholder sources.
“We have not talked about this year’s dividend policy yet, but amid a preliminary profit of 100-105 million lei according to Romanian standards, I don’t really see what dividends could be granted. If they distribute 40% of the profit, it is non-significant. There will be dividend talks at the review GM,” said the quoted sources. The bank posted a 237.9 million-lei profit in 2009, nearly five times lower than in 2008, of 1.11 billion lei.
In the first nine months of last year, BCR posted a 75 million-lei profit. At Wednesday’s general meeting the shareholders approved this year’s spending and revenue budget, according to which the bank estimates a net profit according to Romanian accounting standards of 250 million lei, 2.5 times higher than in 2010.