Thanks to solid business model Erste Group posts net profit of EUR 492.1 million in H1 09

Highlights1:

• Erste Group posted record operating profit of EUR 1,776.4 million in H1 09. This is an improvement of 19.1% on H1 08, which was not yet impacted by the economic downturn. Operating income grew by 7.0% to EUR 3,736.6 million while operating expenses were down by 2.1% to EUR 1,960.2 million compared to H1 08.
• Net interest income and net trading result were the major operating income drivers in H1 09. Despite limited loan growth - customer loans advanced to EUR 128.1 billion in H1 09 from EUR 126.2 billion at year-end 2008. Thanks to stable net interest margins across all geographies, net interest income remained strong at EUR 2,505.3 million (up 8.6% on H1 08), supported by a robust performance of the Retail & SME segment. The excellent net trading result was mainly due to a strong performance of the fixed income and money markets businesses.
• Risk costs rose to EUR 892.1 million (up 132.3% on H1 09) or 141 bps of average customer loans. The NPL ratio (based on total exposure) increased from 2.9% in Q4 08 to 3.6% in H1 09, mainly driven by the CEE retail business, the Haftungsverbund savings banks in Austria and portfolio provisions in the Group Corporate and Investment Banking business.
• Erste Group has not taken advantage of reclassifying assets as a result of the easing of accounting rules. Results from all categories of financial assets were primarily impacted by revaluation requirements in the ABS/CDO portfolio: the negative P&L effect in Q2 09 equalled EUR 11.3 million (pre-tax) after EUR 54.8 million in Q1 09, while the negative impact on shareholders' equity declined to EUR 43.0 million in Q2 09, compared to EUR 88 million in Q1 09.
• Net profit amounted to EUR 492.1 million in H1 09, down 22.7% on EUR 636.6 million in H1 08. All countries, except for Ukraine, where Erste Group has only a small presence, operated profitably in H1 09. The reported tier 1 ratio improved to 8.4% at H1 09 (2008: 7.2%) following the issuance of participation capital (EUR 1.224 billion subscribed by the Republic of Austria and EUR 540 million by private investors). Risk-weighted assets grew by 4.0% to EUR 108 billion in H1 09.
• The loan-to-deposit ratio improved from 115.4% at year-end 2008 to 112.9% at H1 09.

1) In January 2009, Sparkasse Kufstein joined the Haftungsverbund (cross guarantee system of the Austrian savings banks) and therefore was included in the consolidated financial statements from this point in time. Furthermore, Ringturm KAG and Opportunity Bank a.d., Montenegro, acquired by Erste & Steiermärkische banka d.d., was consolidated for the first time as of 31 March 2009. In addition, Investbanka a.d. Skopje, Macedonia, acquired by Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG, has been part of the consolidated financial statements since 1 October 2008 and was not included during the entire reporting period for the previous year. As the criteria for IFRS 5 (sale within 12 months) were not fulfilled for the sale of Anglo Romanian Bank, a reclassification took place from the item "Assets held for sale and discontinued operations" to the respective balance sheet positions. As a result, comparisons with the previous year and rates of change are slightly distorted.