Top banks see moderate profit in Q1

The first quarter of this year saw some of the largest banks in the system registering moderate income growth rates, with some of the banks that have published results thus far reporting smaller profits.
The leading banks managed to continue expanding, making higher incomes in the process. However, the banks that made very large investments in network development did not have as profitable a first quarter this year.
BCR managed to increase its profits by almost 10% in euros, against Q1 in 2006. The bank reached a net income worth 62m euros in Q1, excluding any costs related to its integration into the Erste group.
The French at BRD-SocGen also saw their net income improve by 12% reaching 168m RON (51m euros). In 2006, the French bank only managed a slight increase in its income, of 3% in nominal terms, in RON.
In Q1, the BCR increased its assets by 3.7% totalling 14.6bn euros. BCR granted loans to individual clients worth a little above 3bn euros. In RON, the volume of retail loans climbed by almost 42%, to 10.2bn RON.
BRD-SocGen did not publish any data on the volume of assets it currently controls. However, the French announced that the volume of loans operated had increased to a value of 19bn RON (5.7bn euros), 78% higher than March 2006. The figures for financing released to individuals also doubled.
In order to sustain its growth on the retail market last year, the BRD aggressively expanded its network bringing its total number of branches to above 600 (over 100 more than BCR).
Raiffeisen Bank, the 3rd biggest bank in the system, reported a 6.6% increase in assets in Q1 totalling 4.8bn euros. The Austrian bank only releases its detailed financial data on a half-year basis.
HVB Tiriac and UniCredit Romania, which are due to finalise their merger next month, saw a generated gross income worth almost 25m euros in Q1, 36% higher than in 2006. Bank-Austria Creditanstalt, part of the UniCredit group coordinating the units in Central and Eastern Europe, was unable to provide any data regarding assets from loans.
Banca Transilvania, the only Romanian-held top banking player, saw its assets increase by 11% against March 2006 reaching 8.98bn RON (2.68bn euros). The bank, however, witnessed a slow down in the growth of its income.
In late March, the Greek Alpha Bank granted loans worth 1.58bn euros on the Romanian market doubling its volume against the same time last year. The bank did not publish any income data, but its officials stated profits might remain at the same level registered in 2006, or possibly drop amid huge development investments.
For the Greeks at Eurobank, who own Bancpost, the first quarter of 2007 brought 25% smaller profits against the same period of last year. The group reached a domestic income worth 1.8m euros in Q1.
CEC generated a gross income worth 24m RON in Q1 (7m euros), up 60% on the same period in 2006. At the same time, Volksbank managed to derive a net income worth 4.1m euros in Q1, up 14% on 2006.