Romanian lender Libra Internet Bank Wednesday said its net profit rose fivefold on the year to 8.5 million lei (EUR1.92 million) in the first half of 2014, helped by lower costs. In the first six months of the year, the bank managed to record a net profit equal to the one for the entire last year of RON 8.7 million.
“Compared to the same period last year, when the net profit registered after the first half of the year was RON 1.7 million, we managed to increase it five times a year later, following a strategy based on growth in a balanced market and on expense control, while at the same time we’re investing in operation speed and technology”, according to a press release from bank president, Emil Bituleanu.
Libra Bank, had a market share of 0.3 percent at the end of last year based on assets, which also increased to RON 1.33 billion, up 10.9 percent.
The loan balance is up 20.8 percent to RON 954.47 million, while the NPL ration continued to drop to 12.59 percent, far below the industry average of 23 percent. NPL balance is at RON 71.42 million. Provisioning cost the bank RON 6.41 million, reaching a balance of RON 97.67 million. The balance between costs and income is at 65.3 percent.