Erste Bank Hungary's after-tax profit climbed to HUF90bn (€240mn) in Q1-Q3 from HUF18.4bn in the base period, boosted by one-offs and the revaluation of subsidised loans, said CEO Jelasity Radovan at a press conference on November 15.

The operating profit of the Austrian-owned lender rose to HUF150bn from HUF67bn a year earlier as operating expenses decreased by 2.5%, while operating income surged 56%.

The cost/income ratio fell to 33.3% at the end of September from 53.3% a year earlier.

Stock of client loans, including bond subscriptions, rose 5.8% in the twelve months to the end of September. The NPL ratio edged down to 2.8% from 3%.

Retail lending stock increased by 5% to HUF5.2 trillion and the corporate loan book grew 6% to HUF1.2 trillion, driven by the takeover of Commerzbank. Excluding the impact of the acquisition, corporate lending stock fell 7%.

Lending to micro-businesses surged 48% due to state-subsidised lending programmes.

Erste Bank saw a steep decline in new outlay in Q1-Q3 that mirrored the market trend. The bank posted a 45% year-on-year decline in new disbursements in the first nine months.  

Mortgage outlay fell by 54%, demand for the zero-percent, general purpose prenatal baby loans fell by 34% and new personal loans were 5% lower.

Erste said that it had paid a HUF7.9bn contribution National Deposit Insurance Fund (OBA) to cover the former clients of failed Russian-owned Sberbank Magyarorszag in the base period, then booked a rebate for that contribution in 2023.

The lender's Hungarian unit booked a total of €101mn levies in the first half, of which the windfall tax accounted for 48%, or €47.9mn. The "regular" bank tax came to €16.5mn and the transaction tax amounted to €35.6mn.

ROE rose from 5.7% in 2022 to 24.6% in 2023.