Greece's Alpha Bank reports 21m-euro gross profit in Romania

Alpha Bank, the Romanian subsidiary of one of the leading Greek financial groups, posted 21.1 million euros in gross profit in the first quarter of the year, 57% more than the profit reported in the similar period of 2008. The bank recorded 50.3 million euros in operating revenues in the first three months of the year, a 30% rise, according to the report published by the group in Athens. However, operating costs went up by a little over 9%, to 23.6 million euros. The bank suspended territorial expansion in 2009, thus making cost savings, whereas in 2008 it was opening branches at a steady pace. The results are calculated in line with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The profit increase was mainly due to the decline in the cost of external funding, explains Sergiu Oprescu, chief executive of Alpha Bank. "EURIBOR (the interbank index for the euro zone) was on a downward trend, which had a positive impact on the interest rate cost of external funding. Additionally, we recorded significant increases in the second and third quarters of last year. The effects of this are seen in 2009," Oprescu said.