UniCredit posts 57m lei profit by Romanian standards

UniCredit Țiriac Bank, the seventh bank in terms of assets in 2010, ended last year with net income worth almost 57.2m lei in line with Romanian accounting standards (RAS), down 75% from the 2009 income.

The bank ramped up lending, managing to expand its gross portfolio by almost 13%, way above the market average, but factors such as the soaring risk cost or the halved profit from financial transactions hurt its annual net figure.

The loan portfolio reached 13.5bn lei, but in parallel the amount of bad loan provisions leaped by 67%, to 1.46bn lei.

The stepped up lending was not reflected in the asset increase, which reached less by 1%, to 20.42bn lei, particularly as older loans reached maturity.

Among new loans, too, over 40% had a maturity term of less than one year, with the main weight being held by credit lines for companies. The corporate unit strengthened its position in the bank, bringing almost 62% of the loan portfolio.