BCR's H1 2020 net profit at almost 500 ml lei

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) posted a net profit of 498.9 million lei (103.6 million euros) in H1 2020, compared to a net loss of 20.8 million lei (4.4 million euros) reported in the same period of 2019, the bank said in a release on Friday. According to the financial results, the operating profit advanced 9.3 percent to 898.2 million lei (186.5 million euros) in H1 2020 from 822 million lei (173.3 million euros) a year ago, while the net interest income increased by 7 percent to 1.187 billion lei (246.6 million euros), and the net fee income dropped 14.3 percent to 316.2 million lei. BCR's net trading result stood at almost 143 million lei, 12.3 percent lower than in H1 2019. The operating income in the reporting period increased by 0.8 percent to 1.703 billion lei (353.6 million euros), and the general administrative expenses amounted to 805.3 million lei (167.2 million), down 7.2 percent year-on-year. The ratio of non-performing loans picked up to 4.5 percent this June from 4.1 percent in December 2019. At the same time, the loan loss provision coverage ratio remained relatively stable at 117.4 percent as of mid-2020. Loans and advances granted to BCR customers increased by 1.2 percent to 40.532 billion lei as of June 30, 2020, mainly on the back of the increase in retail lending (+2.7 percent compared to December 2019). Customer deposits increased 3.1 percent to 59.555 billion lei, due to growth in retail deposits (+5.1 percent compared to the end of the previous year). As regards retail lending, new loans in domestic currency granted to individuals and micro-enterprises stood at 3.7 billion lei in H1 2020, and were mainly in the form of mortgage loans. Sales on the mortgage segment were 25 percent up in the reporting period, while new loans for micro-enterprises advanced by 24 percent. BCR offers a complete range of financial products and services through a network of 19 business centers and 16 mobile offices dedicated to companies and 429 retail units located in most of Romania's cities with over 10,000 inhabitants.AGERPRES(RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Maria Voican)