High provisions push Bancpost into second consecutive quarterly loss

Greek Eurobank EFG, the majority stakeholder in Bancpost, announced Romanian operations generated a 4.1m-euro loss in the first quarter, down from more than 10m-euro profit in the same period of last year. In Q4, 2008, the Greeks had also posted net losses of around 8m euros in Romania.

“The bank’s financial figures were hurt by two factors in Q1: the rising credit risk provisions and the soaring costs of resources, which Bancpost did not entirely pass on to customers. We considered customers are already having a lot of problems during this period and we did not want to cause them any more troubles,” commented Mihai Bogza, chairman and CEO of Bancpost. Bogza pointed that the result reported by Eurobank refers to all the subsidiaries of Romania (Eurobank operates another 11 financial companies developed around Bancpost), but did not provide further details about the bank’s individual operations. Results were calculated in line with IFRS. Bancpost thus remains the only top ten bank reporting losses, while the rest of the players have logged profits. However, NBR officials underlined that, in line with Romanian accounting standards, the banking system posted a net loss. RAS figures are now weaker than IFRS ones, as domestic rules on provisioning requirements are much tougher. Eurobank reported improved operating gains, to 33.6m euros, 29% above the level reached in the same period of 2008. The difference to the net loss was mainly generated by expenses related to provisions. Operating revenues climbed by 7% to 79.1m euros. At the same time, operating expenses were cut by 2m euros, to 45.5m euros. In Q1, Bancpost froze network expansion at 293 retail units and 19 centres dedicated to corporate customers. In a recent interview with ZIARUL FINANCIAR, Bogza said the focus will fall on cutting costs. Assets held by Eurobank in Romania posted marginal growth, to slightly more than 6bn euros in March. However, loans to customers dropped by 5% in the first 3 months of the year, to 3.75bn euros. Deposits also registered a slight decline, by 2%, to 2.35bn euros in March.