site.btaCentral Bank: Banking System Profit Rises 8.7% to BGN 889 Million in Q1

The banking sector booked a profit of BGN 889 million as at March 31, up BGN 72 million, or 8.7%, on Q1 of 2024, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said on Wednesday.

Net interest income increased by BGN 20 million (1.5%) to BGN 1.4 billion, and net fee-and-commission income grew by BGN 46 million (12.4%) to BGN 420 million.

Total assets rose BGN 6 billion (3.1%) to BGN 197.6 billion, driven by an BGN 8.1 billion (6.9%) jump in loans and advances, whose share of assets reached 63.5%, up from 61.2% at December 31 2024.

The liquidity-coverage ratio edged up to 243.6% from 241%, as the liquidity buffer grew to BGN 57.1 billion and net cash outflows eased to BGN 23.4 billion.

Gross loans and advances expanded by BGN 8.1 billion (6.7%) to BGN 128.8 billion. Claims on credit institutions rose BGN 4.5 billion (45.1%) to BGN 14.5 billion, while the combined loan portfolio to households, non-financial corporations, other financial firms and general government increased BGN 3.5 billion (3.2%) to BGN 114.1 billion. Household borrowing grew BGN 2.1 billion, including BGN 1.4 billion in mortgage-backed loans; lending to non-financial corporations was up BGN 1.1 billion (2%), to other financial firms BGN 303 million (3.4%) and to general government BGN 9 million (1%).

Deposits climbed BGN 3.9 billion (2.4%) to BGN 166.8 billion. Household deposits gained BGN 1.5 billion (1.6%), those of credit institutions BGN 1.1 billion (7.9%); general-government balances rose BGN 848 million (27.1%), other financial firms BGN 459 million (10.7%), while non-financial corporations were broadly flat.

Own funds stood at BGN 23.5 billion, up BGN 311 million (1.3%) on December, reflecting the rise in current-year profit, BNB said.