Erste Bank reported this morning its consolidated 9M IAS figures. Slightly worse operating revenues were partially offset by lower-than-expected operating costs and lower provisioning. Profit before provisions of EUR 475 mil. (Core Group figure) thus stood 2% below the consensus and net profit of EUR 155.5 mil. was exactly in line with expectations. Balance sheet grew by almost 10%, and was driven predominately by increase in client deposits (also +10%).
Ceska sporitelna, Erste’s 94%-owned subsidiary, posted 9M IAS net profit of CZK 4.9 bil., and significantly exceeded our expectation of CZK 4.1 bil. Low provisioning and better-than-expected other operating results were the main factors behind the difference.
Erste reiterated its full-year 2002 expectation of net profit that should exceed its 2001 level.
IAS consol.* 9M 2002 9M 2001 change
(EUR mil.)
Net interest income 1,167 1,059 10.2%
Operating revenues 1,759 1,570 12.0%
Operating expenses 1,203 1,064 13.1%
Operating result 555 506 9.7%
Other results -80 -79 1.0%
Profit before provisions 475 427 11.2%
Provisions -139 -148 -6.1%
Pretax profit 336 280 20.0%
Net profit 156 151 3.0%
* “Core Group” figures exclude Austrian savings banks that are not owned by Erste, but are consolidated due to their membership in the cross guarantee system
Jan Hájek