Banca Transilvania (TLV), the biggest private Romanian-controlled bank, posted 396.62 million RON (108 million euros) net profit in the first nine months of the year, a figure that includes the one-off income from the sale of 25% in Asiban. The profit is triple the level posted in the same time last year.
The net operating income went up by 30% and reached 173.54 million RON (47.3 million euros), while the total assets of the bank increased by 19% compared to the beginning of the year, and reached 16.469 billion RON (some 4.48 billion euros).
The worsening conditions on the bank market, as a result of the international financial crisis, have encouraged the heads of Banca Transilvania to consider a slowdown of the growth rate over the coming period.
"Everybody is more cautious, more conservative now. The situation is the same for the entire system. Of course we are more cautious too, especially since the NBR norms are coming into force. We are not concerned about the market share, but about solidity, liquidity and profitability," Horia Ciorcila, Banca Transilvania's chairman and main individual shareholder, with his 5%, told ZF.
However, the bank says it is also considering acquisitions, after having collected 87.5 million euros from the sale of its stake in insurer Asiban to French group Groupama, with the net profit derived from this transaction standing at 223 million RON (some 61 million euros).
As a result, Banca Transilvania had readily available cash worth 3.69 billion RON (about 1 billion euros) at the end of September.
"Considering the solidity of our bank, we will carefully monitor every opportunity that may arise under the current circumstances and may add value to our institution," stated Robert Rekkers, CEO of Banca Transilvania, who says he is looking at the local market mainly, where interesting opportunities might come up.
Rekkers does not believe the Romanian banking system will be really affected by the international crisis.
"As an argument, the solidity of the Romanian banking system can be easily shown if we think about the total minimum mandatory reserves alone that the banks have at NBR. As for Banca Transilvania, there is no international exposure of its business, as it is a majority Romanian-held company," Rekkers said.
Banca Transilvania has 850 million euros placed with NBR as minimum mandatory reserves.
However, the bank has started to feel, though indirectly, the effects of the international financial crisis, and saw both its assets and its profit growth slow down in the third quarter.
According to the bank's officials, the profit was hurt by the dwindling interest margins and by the decline of the Stock Exchange, while cautious lending policies stopped asset growth.
TLV shares are suspended from trading, pending completion of a par value consolidation operation, from 0.1 RON to 1 RON.
TLV shares have lost some 50% of their value since the beginning of the year.
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