Provisions bring UniCredit profit down to 36m euros

UniCredit Țiriac, a top ten bank on the market, registered net income worth 148m RON (36m euros) in the first six months, down more than 18% from a year ago amid rising bad loan provision charges. In euros, the decline amounts to almost 7m euros (16%). The result is in line with IFRS. In line with RAS, H1 net income stood at 31m RON (7.5m euros), almost five times smaller than the IFRS income, because of the stricter provision setting rules. Against January-March period, the bank in Q2 posted 31% bigger net income, to 84m RON. Against Q2, 2009, when UniCredit’s net income amounted to just 50m RON, the increase stood at 68%. “The first six months of this year reconfirmed the tendency registered in Q1, as market demand remained low, and risk costs continued to rise. After the introduction of budgetary consolidation moves, we do not expect economic recovery to start earlier than 2011,” commented Răsvan Radu, a CEO with UniCredit Țiriac Bank. He notes that the bank’s financial situation is still sound.