In the first six months of the year, Banca Transilvania continued its sustained organic growth, driven by lending to companies and individuals. BT thus continued to support Romanian entrepreneurs and the local economy, creating added value for shareholders, customers and its team.

SMEs and credit cards were BT’s main strengths in H1:

• BT surpassed the 400,000 credit cards mark. Purchase volumes on Star cards rose by 43% versus the first half of last year.
• The bank exceeded EUR 1 billion in SME loans outstanding in Romania and finances over 32,000 small and medium-sized companies.
• Almost 100,000 new loans were granted to retail, SME and corporate customers.
• Transactions made with BT’s more than 3.2 million cards and with BT Pay payment accessories—the app, watch, bracelet and contactless sticker—increased by almost 35% compared with the same period last year.

The Banca Transilvania Financial Group reported consolidated net profit of RON 864.60 million, of which the bank’s net profit was RON 662.71 million. Subsidiaries and investments contributed over RON 200 million to Group profitability.

“Organic growth and profitability at BT are impressive, and we know that from here on we have an even greater responsibility to our customers and to Romania’s economy. We are ready to continue to support companies and individuals in financing their investments and aspirations. Our market position, our very strong financials and the resources at our disposal allow us to continue to grow the business and to contribute to Romania’s economic development,” said Horia Ciorcila, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Banca Transilvania.

BT, results for the first half:

• The Banca Transilvania Financial Group has total assets of RON 75.3 billion, of which RON 62.9 billion at BT (standalone); net loans account for 50% of Group assets;
• The BT Group manages RON 37.89 billion of loans in Romania, of which RON 31.35 billion were originated by Banca Transilvania. Loans to customers at BT were up 4.8% by outstanding balance versus December 2017.
• Customer deposits at the Banca Transilvania Financial Group reached RON 61.48 billion, of which RON 40.09 billion from individuals and RON 21.39 billion from business customers.
• BT’s loan-to-deposit ratio was 66% at the end of H1 2018.
• BT’s cost-to-income ratio remained at a comfortable 49.7%, despite significant integration efforts on two fronts, in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
  
  

Growth in operating income is underpinned by a sustained and faster increase in transaction volumes across BT, which translates into lower costs for BT customers.

Technology and digital

• The financial education platform Intreb BT was visited by almost 650,000 people in the first half of the year. The site contains answers to almost 1,000 questions about services, products and operations.
• Livia, BT’s bot provided retail customers, via Facebook Messenger and Skype, with over 250,000 answers per month between January and June this year regarding their accounts, products and services at Banca Transilvania. Recently, BT launched the Raul bot for communicating with entrepreneurs.
• BT launched the Online Loan, taking another step in digitising the relationship with customers. The loan process is simplified versus a traditional loan and involves applying on the bank’s website and receiving BT’s offer online, followed by scheduling a visit to the bank to sign the documentation. From April through June this year, over 3,700 applications for this loan were approved.
• The BT Pay app for contactless payments by mobile phone, launched at the beginning of this year, was downloaded 170,000 times in the first six months of the year. BT Pay is Romania’s first wallet app.
• Banca Transilvania has a network of 43,000 POS terminals and almost 1,800 ATMs, multifunctional ATMs (BT Express Plus) and payment machines (BT Express).
• Facebook is one of BT’s main communication and financial education channels. With 500,000 fans, Banca Transilvania has the largest Facebook community among banks in Romania.

Other financial information:

• The non-performing exposure ratio under the EBA definition was 5.58% at 30 June 2018.
• Coverage of non-performing exposures with total provisions under EBA standards is 85%. Including collateral, the coverage ratio is over 120%.
• The bank’s capital adequacy is 22.41%.
• Over 28,000 Romanian shareholders are part of BT’s success story.
• Banca Transilvania continued to engage with the community, allocating over RON 13 million to financial and entrepreneurial education, sport, culture, events and social causes.
  
  

Banca Transilvania, Bancpost and Victoriabank

• The integration of Bancpost, ERB Retail Services and ERB Leasing into the BT Financial Group is well under way, in line with the ambitious plan proposed by Banca Transilvania. Ensuring a positive experience for Bancpost customers throughout the integration and optimising costs at Bancpost are the two banks’ priorities. As soon as Banca Transilvania receives the approvals specific to this stage, it will make the customer migration plan public. 

• The strategy to replicate BT’s success in the Republic of Moldova at Victoriabank is on track, and the most important step to date has been reorganising activities along two main business lines, Retail and Corporate.