Romania’s Banking System Returns To RON373M Profit In 1Q

05.04.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

Romania’s banking system returned to a 373 million lei (EUR90.7 million) profit in the first quarter this year, after concluding 2010 with the first instance of annual loss seen in the past decade, according to data collected by the central bank.

Data shows that 22 lenders posted a cumulated profit of RON686.37 million in the first quarter this year, calculated on Romanian accounting standards.

In the same interval, 20 banks posted a cumulated loss of RON313.1 million.

Romania's top two banks by asset value, BCR and BRD, announced lower earnings compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Thus, the BCR group posted a net profit of RON76.1 million, 3.2 times less than in the same interval of 2010, because of higher provision costs, lower revenue from interest and higher staff expenditure.

BRD-Groupe Societe Generale (BRD.RO) posted a net profit of RON122 million, down 38.7% on the year, as banking revenue dropped to RON787 million.

The banking system concluded 2010 with a net loss of RON304 million, for the first time since 1999. (EUR1=RON4.1127)