For the first nine months of 2010 the OTP banka Group reported a pre-tax profit of €26.6 million from continuing operations, an increase of 64% over the same period last year when the profit was €16.2 million. The Group’s net profit in the period from January through September 2010 was €20.3 million or €0.69 per share.
The OTP banka Group's total assets at the end of September were €5,889 million, up 1.8% over the 2009 year-end. The total capital adequacy as of 30 September 2010 was 11.06%, and the total equity amounted to €455.8 million, an increase of 5.7% over the 2009 year-end. As a result of improved profitability compared to the same period last year, the Group's pre-tax return on average equity was 8.1%, roughly two times better than that of the end of 2009.
Good performance and results were reported by OTP banka d.d. as well. In the first nine months of 2010, OTP banka d.d. generated a pre-tax profit of €16.2 million from continuing operations. The Bank's pre-tax return on equity was 5.77% (2009: 4.31%), which is 1.94 times the figure reported for the Slovene banking system. The Bank's net profit reported for the first nine months of 2010 was €13.8 million, and the total assets of OTP banka d.d. at the end of September stood at €4,810.2 million.
Matjaž Kovačič, President of the Management Board of OTP banka d.d., highlighted two factors that had a significant impact on the Group's operating results: the restructuring of Credy banka a.d. and the global crisis in the real estate sector. At the same time, he pointed out that »in spite of the crisis, both the Bank and the OTP banka Group perform profitably and are well prepared for numerous future challenges and opportunities.«
The OTP banka Group continues implementing its strategic objectives. At the beginning of November, OTP banka d.d. inaugurated a new branch in the heart of the city of Ljubljana, Ljubljana Center. By opening this branch, which is to widen its already extensive branch network, the Bank intends to further strengthen its position in the central Slovenia. Two more branches are planned for opening by the end of 2010: Koroška Branch and Gornja Radgona Branch. Further, the Bank would like its customers to benefit from the latest development in modern distribution channels. To that effect, it introduced to its customers in November a new generation of the Bank's online banking service, Bank@Net, which features new functionalities and has a new appearance.
»The OTP banka Group will continue to pursue its strategic objective of market expansion, will continuously endeavour to streamline its banking as well as other operations in order to cut expenses and shorten the response time for customer requests, and will, above all, focus on providing reliable and adequate financial solutions to business partners and customers« said Matjaž Kovačič President of the Management Board of OTP banka d.d., about the Group’s projections till the end of 2010.
