BRD 1Q Net Profit Falls 39% To RON122M

05.03.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romanian lender BRD Societe-Generale (BRD.RO) Tuesday reported a 38.7% drop in its first-quarter net profit to 122 million lei (EUR29.85 million), on lower net income, the bank said in its financial report.

BRD said net banking revenue fell 14% on the year to RON787 million in the January-March period, while gross operating profit declined 22.3% to RON443 million.

"The first three months of 2011 didn't bring the expected recovery in the market and the differences from the last period of 2010 are unnoticeable. The economic activity is still declining, also influenced by (weak) demand for banking services," said Guy Poupet, president and CEO of BRD.

The bank said total loans nudged down 1% on the year to RON32.4 billion in the first quarter, while overall deposits slid 5% to over RON29 billion.

BRD's cost/income ratio was 43.6%, up from around 38% in the year-earlier period.

On the other hand, net risk costs fell 10% on the year to RON292 million in the first quarter.

The bank's financial results are computed under Romanian accounting standards.

French financial group Societe Generale is the bank's main shareholder, with a 59.36% stake, while the five Romanian regional investment funds SIFs own together a quarter of BRD shares.

On the Bucharest bourse Monday, BRD closed flat at RON15 a share.(EUR1=RON4.086)