Raiffeisen makes a 52.6m-euro profit in H1

Raiffeisen Bank, one of the largest players in the Romanian banking system, ended the first half of the year with a 52.6 million-euro net profit, calculated in line with international standards, down by almost 30% against the similar period of 2008. The bank fully felt the abrupt change in market conditions: net interest rate revenues after provisions halved, to 54.2 million euros, commission revenues fell 20%, to 94.6 million euros, whilst provisions for problematic loans almost doubled, to 145.4 million euros. “The net interest rate margin dropped by around 20%, because we chose not to transfer the high funding costs to our clients,” Steven van Groningen, president of the bank, told ZF. He believes first-half results are very good in the current economic context. “Although we compare, as is customary, the results in June this year with those posted the same time last year, we have to consider the significantly altered market conditions. We managed to largely offset the rise in provision expenses, the slight decline in revenues and the unfavourable depreciation of the RON/euro exchange rate via a rigorous cost management,” Van Groningen added.