BCR and BRD make two thirds of lender's earnings

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) and BRD-Groupe Societe Generale (BRD-SocGen), leaders in the Romanian banking system in terms of assets, registered 62.6 percent of total net profit posted by all 40 lenders in the system in the first nine months of 2008, amounting to €1 billion.

The two companies manage one third of total assets administered by Romanian banks, whose value reaches €79.6 bln.

The 2008 profit registered by lenders could double compared to last year's net income, worth €825 mln, considering that BCR, Romania's largest bank in terms of assets, has not yet received the payment from the sale of its BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata divisions.

"The net profit of banks amounted to RON 3.653 billion (€1 billion) at the end of September. In the past months, the growth pace on assets has slowed. Loans are granted at a lower rate, and this rate will continue to drop, as banks are currently reevaluating their risk profile," Nicolae Cinteza, Director of the Surveillance Bureau of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), told Business Standard. Profit growth rate forecasts for 2009 are not optimistic, as bankers are unable to add loans to their portfolio at the same rate as they did before the crisis.

Business Standard