BRD ended 2016 with significant rise in net profit, up 63 pc to RON 763 M

BRD Group posted a strong set of results in 2016. Net profit reached RON 763 million, up by 63.4 percent compared to 2015, driven by higher net banking income, disciplined cost control and lower risk costs, a press release informs. Return on equity stood at 11.8 percent (+4.0 percentage points compared to 2015).

Net banking income of the second bank in Romania reached RON 2,778 million in 2016, up by +7 percent versus 2015. Despite persistent low interest rate environment, net interest income increased by +4.6 percent, driven by volume growth on the retail segment and positive structure shifts.

“2016 was marked by a solid performance of BRD Group, with net income substantially higher than in 2015, benefiting from a strong commercial momentum on retail segment, a better operating performance and a significantly improved risk profile. Looking ahead, we are confident of our universal bank business model which will further enable us to satisfy the most various needs of our customers and grow healthily on all segments while creating value for our shareholders”, Francois Bloch, BRD CEO said.

BRD Group’s net loans outstanding amount reached 28.5 RON billion, higher by 3.2 percent as of December 2016 against December 2015 due to the positive performance registered on individuals and large corporate segments.

On individuals segment, net loans outstanding increased by +5.3 percent versus December 31, 2015, driven by a further advance of unsecured consumer loans and housing loans.

The number of active individual customers reached 2.15 million, increasing by 37k as compared to December 2015 end. Customers are also better equipped (the average number of products per active customer increased from 3.95 at December 31, 2015 to 4.07 at December 31, 2016).

Risks costs were substantially lower versus 2015 (-26.5 percent, to RON 484 million from RON 658 million in 2015) reflecting the continued improvement in the asset quality. The ratio of non-performing loans was reduced by 2.8 percentage points to 10.5 percent as of December 31, 2016 from 13.3 percent as of December 31, 2015, supported by balance sheet cleaning operations through write-offs and sales of non-performing loans. The coverage of non-performing loans was increased from 69.3 percent at December 31, 2015 to 76.6 percent at December 31, 2016.