Net profit of UniCredit Tiriac Bank fell by 19 percent year on year to RON 75 million (EUR 17 million) in the first half of this year, although the second quarter profit doubled to RON 51 million (EUR 11.4 million).
The banking income lost 1.7 percent to RON 591 million (136.4 million), while expenses gained 4 percent to RON 312.7 million (EUR 71.2 million). The income decrease was caused by interest reduction both for domestic and foreign currency and higher costs on deposits, adding to increased financing costs. The cost income ratio stood at 52.9 percent.
“In the context of the last six months, the banking market has been marked by higher volatility, fueled by internal turbulences and uncertainties on the outlook of the global economy,” said Rasvan Radu, CEO of UniCredit. “We have improved our market share both in lending and deposits, despite weaker demand.”
UniCredit’s lending went up by 18.4 percent in the first semester to RON 17.1 billion (EUR 3.8 billion), due to higher demand from SMEs. Meanwhile, deposits have added 29.8 percent to RON 11.7 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).
The lender has been able to cut provisioning by 5 percent and slashed the risk cost to 1.62 percent in the first quarter of 2012, from 1.95 percent in the same period of last year.
UniCredit’s assets increased by 10.8 percent to RON 22.7 billion (EUR 5.1 billion) in the first semester and the return on assets reached almost 6 percent.
Ovidiu Posirca