Erste Group Bank AG: 1-9 2013 - net profit of EUR 430.3 million, risk costs decline

Vienna (pta006/30.10.2013/07:30 UTC+1) Erste Group posts net profit of EUR 430.3 million
in the first nine months of 2013; risk costs decline
HIGHLIGHTS
* Net interest income decreased to EUR 3,651.6 million in 1-9 2013 (1-9 2012: EUR 3,968.9 million) due to subdued credit demand and low market interest rates. Net fee and commission income rose from EUR 1,284.3 million in 1-9 2012 to EUR 1,346.3 million as a result of higher income from the securities business. The net trading result improved from EUR 191.4 million to EUR 241.0 million.
* Operating income amounted to EUR 5,238.9 million (-3.8% versus 1-9 2012: EUR 5,444.6 million). Strict cost management reduced general administrative expenses by 2.9%, from EUR 2,826.1 million to EUR 2,743.0 million in 1-9 2013. This led to an operating result of EUR 2,495.9 million
(-4.7% versus 1-9 2012: EUR 2,618.5 million) and a cost/income ratio of 52.4% (1-9 2012: 51.9%).
* Risk costs showed a positive trend and declined by 14.0% to EUR 1,260.0 million, or 129 basis points of average customer loans in 1-9 2013, from EUR 1,465.3 million, or 146 basis points, in
1-9 2012. The NPL ratio stood at 9.6% as of 30 September 2013 (year-end 2012: 9.2%), driven by the decline in the loan book and NPL inflows in the commercial real estate business. The NPL coverage ratio improved to 63.0% (year-end 2012: 62.6%).
* The other operating result amounted to EUR -578.5 million versus EUR -214.0 million in 1-9 2012. This development was largely attributable to the non-recurrence of - on balance - positive one-off effects in 1-9 2012 as well as to negative one-off effects (sale of Ukraine subsidiary, extraordinary taxes in Hungary, goodwill write-down in Croatia) of EUR 157.4 million in 1-9 2013. Banking and financial transaction taxes levied in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia had a negative impact of EUR 247.1 million (1-9 2012: EUR 173.0 million). Taxes on income benefited from a positive one-off effect of EUR 127.7 million in Romania.
* Net profit after minorities amounted to EUR 430.3 million in 1-9 2013 versus a profit of EUR 597.3 million in the previous year that had been driven by one-off effects.
* Following a capital increase of EUR 660.6 million and the full repayment of participation capital of EUR 1.76 billion, shareholders' equity stood at EUR 11.8 billion (year-end 2012: EUR 12.9 billion).
Core tier 1 capital amounted to EUR 10.8 billion as at 30 September 2013 (year-end 2012: EUR 11.8 billion). The reduction of risk-weighted assets to EUR 99.0 billion (year-end 2012: EUR 105.3 billion) was primarily due to the deconsolidation of the Ukrainian subsidiary, lower exposure and the ongoing shift towards secured lending. The core tier 1 ratio (total risk; Basel 2.5) stood at 10.9% (year-end 2012: 11.2%).
* Total assets as of 30 September 2013 amounted to EUR 207.9 billion (year-end 2012: EUR 213.8 billion). The year-to-date decline was primarily attributable to lower asset volumes and to valuation changes. The underlying deposit base was stable at EUR 122.1 billion while loans and advances to customers declined to EUR 129.5 billion as of the reporting date. The latter reflected subdued loan demand in most business lines. The loan-to-deposit ratio improved to 106.1% as of 30 September 2013 (year-end 2012: 107.2%).

Outlook
Erste Group confirms its expectation that the economic performance in Central and Eastern Europe will continue to improve slightly until year-end 2013. However, loan demand is not expected to pick up significantly in the remainder of 2013. Erste Group expects the operating result to decline by up to 5% in 2013, due to expected lower operating income being only partially offset by lower operating costs. It is estimated that the risk costs of Erste Group will decrease by approximately 10-15% in 2013, mainly due to the expected improvement of the risk situation in Romania. This guidance excludes any negative effects from a potential FX borrower support scheme in Hungary. Banking taxes (excluding financial transaction taxes) in Austria, Slovakia and Hungary of approximately EUR 260 million pre-tax (approximately EUR 200 million post-tax) are expected to continue to impact net profit adversely in 2013. Erste Group continues to expect that the Romanian retail and SME segment will return to profitability in 2013 (irrespective of the extraordinary tax effect).

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Emitter:	Erste Group Bank AG Milchgasse 1 1010 Wien Austria
Contact Person:	Thomas Sommerauer/ Simone Pilz
Phone:	+ 43 (0)5 0100 - 17741
E-Mail:	investor.relations@erstegroup.com
Website:	www.erstegroup.com
ISIN(s):	AT0000652011 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Trade)