Slower H1 progress for Banca Romaneasca

Banca Romaneasca (Romanian Bank) posted 96bn ROL gross profit in H1, compared with 92.7bn ROL in the same time in 2002. The gross profit went up about 4% in nominal terms but, looking at the inflationary rate in the time frame considered, this index actually dropped by nearly 10%. The bank management has repeatedly said that introducing the new regulation for the provisions made by banks for the credits granted as of January 1, 2003 will increase spending on provisions and therefore push financial results down. The new credit ranking regulation has been more and more often blamed for the poorer banking performance lately, with bankers reluctant to admit this might as well be the result of the cut in the interest margin without the matching increase in the overall operations volume. The bank posted 203.8bn ROL gross profit last year, and estimates 285bn ROL for 2003. ZF