As the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, warned about the risk to credit growth, together with the reduction in the reference interest rate, BCR Erste comes with an announcement that will send a chill down the spine of the BNR, and head -sit the bank, Sergiu Manea, without care, to be taught by the press service, to smile for the photographers.
BCR accelerated lending, reaching an annualized advance of over 14% in H1/2024. More than 3,900 companies – micro enterprises, SMEs and corporations were financed by the bank in the first semester.
The president of BCR, Sergiu Manea, does not say anything in return about the loans with the highest risks of default, and hides the information at the end of the thick press release, it may go without awareness
His communications director, a certain Ionut Stanimir, tapped the communique, perhaps that’s how he learned at “Ștefan Gheorghiu modern” (SNSPA), to handle the information sent to the reader.
Then, we will say it clearly, so that Vladica and Opincă also understand.
The stock of the riskiest loans, unsecured consumer loans, ie with the issue, (including credit cards and overdrafts) increased by 40.4% measured year on year.
The news also shows that BCR granted new loans to individuals and micro-enterprises of 8.2 billion lei in H1/2024, with an increase of 39.6% in the stock of loans granted to micro-enterprises per year. The stock of conventional mortgage loans (Casa Mea) issued in local currency increased by 8.1% year on year.
BCR claims that in S1/2024 they approved new loans to companies worth 5.7 billion lei, with around 27% of these for investments.
“The current yield was determined by portfolio provisions recorded for downgrades, newly issued loans, as well as new non-performing loans, partially offset by recoveries and updating the risk parameters used to determine the provisions based on the latest. macroeconomic projections”, the statement says.
Non-performing loans continued to weigh on the balance sheet
The rate of non-performing loans stood at 2.6% in June 2024, compared to the rate of 2.9% recorded in December 2023.
This evolution reflects the increase in loans granted to customers, as well as recoveries, loans that have been performing again, as well as non-performing loans which were taken off the balance sheet from both the retail and corporate sectors, which contributed to the creation of new shares. non-performing loans.
At the same time, the rate of coverage of non-performing loans with provisions was 176.2% in June 2024.
BCR Group, which includes the second largest bank on the Romanian market by assets, in the first semester (S1) of 2024 obtained a net profit of 1.3 billion lei (264 million euros), an increase of 18% the compared to the benefit from the first six months of 2023, with the increase in lending and income over 14%.
The bank claims that it recorded better operational performance, supported by a higher volume of business with customers.
After in Q1/2024 the bank had reported an increase in lending with an annual rate of only 7%, at the end of S1/2024 the growth of the total loan portfolio provided by BCR reached a double speed, of 14.6% a year later . year, up to 63.7 billion lei, an increase supported by all sectors, sales and corporate. Compared to the level in December 2023, the balance of loans in S1/2024 had an advance of 8.4%.
The group’s operating profit improved by 21.7% to 1.86 billion lei (374 million euros) in H1/2024, from 1.53 billion lei (310 million euros) in H1/2023, behind a strong increase in operating income and good management. of operating costs.
Operating income increased 14.4% to 2.9 billion lei (583 million euros), from 2.5 billion lei (514 million euros) in H1/2023, driven by net interest income and income net income from higher commissions.
Net interest income increased 18.6% to 2.09 billion lei (422 million euros) in H1 / 2024, from 1.77 billion lei (359 million euros) in H1 / 2023, confirmed by higher business volume, and net tax income increased by 16.8 % to 525 million lei (106 million euros), from 450 million lei (91 million euros) in H1 / 2023, confirmed by a balanced increase in all sectors commission
Excessive administrative costs affected the financial results
The net result from trade decreased by 12.0% to 253 million lei (51 million euro) in S1/2024, from 287 million lei (58 million euro) in S1/2023, confirmed by the reduced activity of trade.
General administrative costs recorded a value of 1.04 billion lei (209 million euros) in H1 2024, a 3.3% increase compared to a billion lei (204 million euros) in S1 2023, confirmed by higher other administrative costs, especially IT, consulting and marketing. costs, and staff costs decreased.
Based on these developments, the cost-to-income ratio increased to 35.9% in S1 2024, compared to 39.7% in S1 2023.
“The products and services we develop start from the added value they bring to customers, but also from the impact in the community and the multiplier effect. The first six months of the year saw an increase of over 90% of those who benefited from a Money School training or Financial Coaching session. It is something that makes us happy, because we reached more than 1.35 million Romanians through BCR’s financial education programs. It is even more important, however, that we transfer this knowledge to Georgian consumers, through new functions that support intelligent financial choices and personalized budget analysis”, says Sergiu Manea, CEO of Banca Comercială Română .
In the corporate lending activity, BCR approved new loans to companies worth 5.7 billion lei in H1/2024, of which approximately 27% are intended for investments.
The financing package provided to BCR Leasing clients in S1 2024 reached a value of 4.39 billion lei (893 million euros), with an increase of 16% compared to S1 2023. The BCR leasing subsidiary continued to support the Romanian entrepreneurial environment and recorded mostly strong increases in the construction, transport, medical services and trade sectors.
According to BCR, net loans and advances made to customers increased by 8.4% to 63.6 billion lei (12.7 billion euros) on June 30, 2024 from 58.7 billion lei (11.8 billion euros) on December 31, 2023, supported by growth in both the retail and corporate sectors.
Deposits from customers increased 4.3% to 81.8 billion lei (16.4 billion euros) on June 30, 2024 from 78.4 billion lei (15.7 billion euros) to December 31, 2023, supported by the growth of both retail and corporate deposits.
The resolution rate of BCR (only the bank) in accordance with the rules on capital requirements (CRR), at the level of 23.3% in May 2024, was significantly higher than the requirements of the National Bank of Romania. Also, the Tier 1 plus 2 capital rate of 23%.
The net result from the impairment of financial instruments showed a provision allocation of 94 million lei (19 million euros) in H1 2024, compared to a provision allocation of 128 million lei (26 million euros) in H1 2023.
George, the smartphone platform with the highest operating and management costs, has occasional crashes, for which BCR asks for funds for donations.
In terms of digitization, Georgia’s digital ecosystem (internet banking and mobile banking) reached 2.4 million users, of which nearly two million are active users of Georgia’s mobile application, with an increase of 15% year on year after a year.
87% of BCR’s products for individuals (current account opening, mortgage and consumer loans, savings account, deposits, insurance and investment products) were granted a 100% digital flow in S1/2024. The month of June 2024 marked a record for digital sales, with 91% of all products sold at bank level purchased on a 100% digital stream.
One year after its launch, more than 2,500 customers accessed Casa Mea on a 100% digital stream, to buy credit or book an offer.
82% of the IMM Plus 2024 loans granted to microenterprise clients were approved on a 100% digital flow, from George.
George’s portfolio of digital solutions for business was expanded with the launch of George SmartEU, a resource that enables entrepreneurs to obtain complete information about funding programs from European or national funds. Within two months of its launch, around 3,000 users gained access to George SmartEU, with 36 funding programs introduced, of which 25 were active on 30 June.
2024-08-11 14:27:00
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