Erste Bank: BCR reports net earnings of EUR202m for 2005

Banca Comerciala Romana, which Erste Bank recently agreed to acquire from the Romanian govenrment, reported a net profit of EUR 202m for 2005. The bank reported an increase in assets by 40% and loans by 50%, with the branch network of the bank having been increased by 60 outlets to 372. Despite the rapid loan growth (or perhaps in part, because of it), NPLs dropped from 2.5% in 2004 to 1.8% in 2005. The The ROA was 2.3% and the ROE 18.8%. As the headline level of BCR's 2005 earnings was actually leaked to the markets and reported in the Romanian press more than a month ago, we would not expect any impact from the news today.