"Raiffeisen Bank" made a net profit of 49.98 million Euros, in H1 2010

• Provision expenses have decreased by half

"Raiffeisen Bank" ended the first semester of 2010 with a net profit of 49.98 million Euros, down 5% YOY, but has seen its costs with provisions for doubtful loans and losses from 43.79 million Euros to 22.67 million Euro, according to a press release.

The chairman of "Raiffeisen Bank", Steven van Groningen, said: "I am happy that we have succeeded in posting good results again, very close to those of June 2009, even the economy has begun deteriorating in Romania".

Also, in the first half of the year, the bank had an operating profit of 83.8 million Euros, down 21% from 106.2 million Euros in H1 2009.

At the same time, operating expenses have dropped 3.7% in Euros (-4.4% expressed in lei), out of which employee expenses decreased 1% in Euros (-1.7% when denominated in lei), the bank"s press release states.

The bank"s net revenue has also decreased 12% in the first semester, compared to the same period of 2009, to 210.4 million Euros, following the drop in revenues from the treasury department.

"Even though our revenues dropped 12% over the past year, we have successfully managed to control costs, provisions have decreased significantly, we have managed all expenses more efficiently, and thus we have succeeded in remaining profitable", said Steven van Groningen, who added: "These good results are due to the bank"s solid position in the market, as well as due to its cautious risk management policy and due to the balanced exposure to the various segments and industries ".

The bank"s total assets have decreased slightly, from 4.67 billion Euros in June 2009 to 4.57 billion Euros on June 30 this year.

The annual return on equity after taxes at the end of the first semester was 18.6%, down from 20.8% at the end of last year.

• Lending advanced slightly

Loans given to customers exceeded 2.7 billion Euros, up 6.7% YOY. Also, customer deposits have exceeded 3.4 billion Euros, up 5.2% compared to last year"s similar period.

Interest revenues, which are the core part of a bank"s profit, had a positive evolution (+11%), whereas revenues from fees and commissions dropped slightly (-4.6%), the bank"s press release states.

At the end of June, "Raiffeisen Bank" had 539 branches, 19 less than last year, and around 2 million individual customers, almost 100,000 SMEs and over 6,800 large and medium corporate clients.

Also, the average number of employees dropped in the first part of the year, from 6,512 at the end of H1 2009 to 5,906 at the end of the first half of 2010.