Profit of Banca Romaneasca down to 2m euros in Q1

Banca Romaneasca, the Romanian branch of Greek financial group NBG, posted 9 million RON (2.1 million euros) in net profit in the first quarter of the year, 57% less than the income recorded in the similar period of 2008. Although it posted a lower net profit, the bank managed to consistently increase its net banking revenue, which climbed 39% in RON, to 115 million RON (almost 27 million euros). The results are calculated according to international financial reporting standards. The decline in net profit came amid around 8 million euros in provisions set up by the bank in the first quarter. At the end of March, the bank had 35 million euros in credit risk provisions. In the entire Romanian banking system, provisions exceeded the equivalent of 2.4 billion euros as early as in February, up from 1.9 billion euros in December last year. Non-performing loans (past due by over 90 days) accounted for 1.7% of Banca Romaneasca’s overall credit portfolio, up 1.3% on December last year. In the entire system, the share of non-performing loans (included in the “loss” category) climbed 6.5% at the end of March, from 4.4% in December, according to data from the NBR (National Bank of Romania). The credit portfolio of Banca Romaneasca fell to 1.9 billion euros at the end of March, compared with 2.2 billion euros at the end of last year.