FIBank Q2’18 consolidated net profit stood 14.3% higher than stand-alone profit

First Investment Bank Q2’18 consolidated net profit was up 16% YoY to BGN 26.7m, which represents 14.3% improvement compared to stand-alone result. Total operating income was down 5% YoY and up 4.8% compared to stand-alone figure. The 24.9% YoY decline of administrative cost was the main reason for the improvement of the bottom line profitability. It came from the 47% (BGN 13.6m) drop of the external services cost. The quarterly provisioning charges registered only minor growth to BGN 21.9m (-7.8% compared to unconsolidated figure). H1’18 bottom line improved by 14.1% YoY and by 9.1% compared to stand-alone result on the lower administrative cost and the reversed tax provisions resulting from the additional provisioning under IFRS 9. EPS came to BGN 0.45. Total NPE ratio was down 1.8 p.p. from end-2017 to 19.9% while coverage improved 8.3 p.p. to 56.4%. With the inclusion of 2017 profit in the capital base, CAR increased by 0.83 p.p. from to 16.72%.