Moneta Sees First Half Profits Rise Nearly 20%

Moneta Money Bank’s net profit for the first half of this year rose by 19.3 percent year on year to 1.43 billion crowns. On the other hand, the bank’s operating revenues fell by 18.3 percent to 5.38 billion crowns. Moneta’s net profit increased due to lower risk costs and consistent management of operating costs, the bank said in a report published on their website. Moneta’s management expects a net profit of CZK 3 billion for this year. That’s 200 million more than originally thought.

The year-on-year decline in the bank’s operating income was affected by extraordinary one-off income last year, Moneta said in a press release.

Moneta’s net profit exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the bank’s total

Revenues from Moneta’s fees and commissions in the first half of this year rose by almost a tenth year on year to CZK 994 million. The bank attributes this to good results in the distribution of third-party products and higher fees for early repayment. The net interest margin remained at 2.7 percent.

The bank’s operating costs rose by 6.3 percent to 2.9 billion crowns compared to the first half of last year. The result was affected by higher depreciation of tangible and intangible assets, regulatory fees and administrative costs.

The bank’s loan portfolio grew by 9.2 percent year-on-year to more than CZK 239 billion. This was helped in particular by a 14 percent increase in retail loans and a 20 percent increase in loans to sole proprietors and small businesses. “The mortgage portfolio in particular grew significantly, increasing by 27.1 percent year-on-year,” the bank said.

The number of active clients of the bank in the first half rose to 1.36 million from 1.35 million a year ago. At the same time, the bank reduced the number of its branches by six to 154. The number of employees also decreased slightly.

Moneta Money Bank, formerly GE Money Bank, is the fourth largest bank in the Czech Republic in terms of number of clients. It is also one of the largest companies traded on the Prague Stock Exchange.

Moneta’s largest shareholder is the PPF financial group. At the beginning of the year, it began negotiations with Moneta on a joint business, which would create the third largest bank in the Czech Republic by exchanging shares between the two entities. At the end of June, the General Meeting of the Bank first approved the merger with the banking part of PPF, but subsequently did not approve its financing.