BCR"s H1 2007 Net Profit Increases by 21.4%

BCR"s consolidated net profit after taxes and minority interests increased by 21.4% in H1 2007, from RON 382.8 million (EUR 107.8 million) to RON 464.6 million (EUR 139.5 million), to reach the highest level in the history of the BCR Group. Operating income increased by 23.3% from RON 1,176.1 million (EUR 331.3 million) to RON 1,450 million (EUR 435.4 million)

With the 23.3% rise in BCR Group"s operating income significantly exceeding the 19.5% increase in general administrative expenses, the operating result strongly increased by 28.0% from RON 520.8 million to RON 666.8 million. The main driver of this improvement was the BCR Group"s strong increase in loans to customers (loans before provisions went up by 14.3%) generating a good increase in net interest income (+12.2%) and respectively in Net commission income (+36.3%).

The operating expenses went up by 19.5%, the increase being mainly due to substantial network expansion by 34 branches in H1 2007. Return on equity increased to 21.2% from 18.8%. Due to the operating income increase the cost/income ratio improved to 54.0% from 55.7%.

Total assets increased by 5.8% from RON 47,435.8 million (EUR 14,034.2 million) as at 31 December 2006 to RON 50,165.1 million (EUR 16,027.2 million) as of H1 2007. This included increases of 14.3% in loans and advances to customers (before provisions) and 2.1% in amounts owed to customers respectively.

The volume of aggregate loans to customer portfolio (before provisions) increased by 14.8% from RON 24,570.6 million (EUR 7,269.4 million) as at 31 December 2006 to RON 28,208.8 million (EUR 9,012.4 million).

Deposits from customers increased YTD by 2.6% to RON 25,122.3 million (EUR 8,026.3 million) from RON 24,477.1 million (EUR 7,241.7 million) as at 31 December 2006. The loan/deposit ratio saw a significant increase, up to 112.3% as at 30 June 2007 from 100.4% at year-end 2006 due to the faster increase in lending than in savings.

BCR continued to consolidate its leading position on the debit and credit cards market reaching a total of 2.3 million active cards, marking a 14.64 % YOY increase.

BCR"s network was extended in H1 2007 by the opening of 34 new branches, reaching to a network of 506 outlets as of end-June, while the number of employees decreased by 2.1% against December 2007 to 10,876 employees.