Net interest income was up 1.9% at EUR 47.6 mln. Net income from commissions and fees increased 8.2% to EUR 40.4 mln, due to higher card, payments and securities fees supported by the acquisition of the former Citibank portfolio.
Operating expenses were stable at EUR 56.7 mln, while the cost-to-income ratio fell from 61.2% to 57.1%.
Erste Group booked EUR 25.6 mln for levies on banking activities in Hungary in Q1, EUR 2 mln more than a year earlier. The bank levies included EUR 13.7 mln for the Hungarian banking tax, posted upfront for the full 2018 financial year, and EUR 11.8 mln in the financial transaction tax. The group also made a EUR 8.0 mln contribution to the deposit insurance fund.
Ersteʼs non-performing loan ratio fell slightly to 5.4%.
Erste Bank Hungaryʼs consolidated total assets stood at EUR 7.622 billion at the end of the first quarter, up just 0.2% from twelve months earlier.
Ersteʼs headcount in Hungary edged down 0.1% to 3,045 at the end of March.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
