Banks' assets have increased in December

In December last year, the net banking assets amounted to 354 billion lei, higher than in September, when they amounted to 343.9 billion lei, according to information provided by the National Bank of Romania (NBR).

The assets of banks with foreign minority or majority shareholders, increased with 3.244 billion lei, from 290.93 billion lei in September to 294.17 billion lei in December. While the value of these assets increased, their weight of lenders' total assets fell from 84.6% in September to 83.1% in December.

The evolution of the privately owned Romanian banks' assets followed the same trend between September and December: they increased in terms of value, from 318.79 billion lei to 324.79 billion lei, but they fell in terms of their weight in the total assets of the Romanian banks, from 92.7% to 91.8%.

The solvency ratio for December increased to 14.5%, from 13.43% in December. The minimum level required by the NBR is 8%.

The weight of doubtful receivables in the loan portfolio decreased slightly (0.05%), to 2.4% in December. The same thing happened with the weight of doubtful and outstanding receivables compared to the total assets, which fell from 1.64% in September, to 1.6% in December.

The loan to deposit ration fell to 116.7% in December, from 118.63% in September. The rate of non-performing loans also fell in December, to 14.1%, from 14.18% in September.

The core activity became less profitable in the fourth quarter, as the profitability ratio fell to from 151.35% to 146.6%.