The Austrian bank Erste Group announced on Monday a net profit up 22% in the second quarter of 2022, against a backdrop of interest rate hikes by central banks in an attempt to stem inflation.
It thus rose to 688.2 million euros over the period from April to June, against 562.9 million a year earlier, for revenues up 7.6%, to 2.1 billion euros.
In a press release, the group refers to the positive effect of rate increases outside the euro zone – particularly in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, as well as significant growth in loans on all markets.
16million customers
Despite the uncertainties linked to the war in Ukraine, Erste Group is counting on the continuation of this positive trend over the rest of the year, especially since the ECB has also just joined the race to raise rates to combat inflation.
Faced with these economic prospects, which remain favorable for the time being, the cost of risk, that is to say the provisions made to deal with possible defaults on repayment by borrowing customers, should remain low in 2022, estimates the retail bank.
Provisions had started to fall last year thanks to the economic recovery, after the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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With 16 million customers and some 44,700 employees, Erste Group is established in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Austria.
It displays robust solvency with a hard equity ratio of 14.2% (CET1, capital intended to deal with possible shocks).
The development of the Russian invasion in Ukraine has no direct impact on Erste Group, which is not present in either country, underlines the bank, which however warns of indirect consequences such as market volatility or the impact of sanctions on certain customers.
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