BNF Bank plc registered €6.3 million in pre-tax profit during the six months ended 30th June 2024 (1H 2024), marking a 13.6 per cent decrease from the same period last year (1H 2023: €7.3 million), driven by rising operating costs.
These figures were announced in the bank’s interim financial report for 1H 2024, published on Wednesday.
During the six months, profitability was primarily driven by net interest income, amounting to €15.8 million (1H 2023: €16.1 million). While net interest income decreased, net fees and commission income was on the rise, going up from €1.7 million in 1H 2023 to €2.2 million in 1H 2024.
When taking into account trading and other income, BNF Bank registered a net operating income of €18.5 million, an increase of 2.3 per cent from 1H 2023’s €18.1 million.
However, operating expenses were largely on the rise, driven by increased spending on employee wages as well as technology. In fact, employee compensation and benefits for 1H 2024 totalled €6.1 million (1H 2023: €5.1 million), while other administrative expenses rose from 1H 2023’s €5 million to €5.9 million in the reporting period.
€350,000 in expected credit losses were reversed in the first half of 2024, an improvement from the €53,000 in losses incurred during the comparative period in 2023. BNF Bank stated that during the period under review, it retained a judgemental temporary post-model adjustment in credit-related loss allowances.
As at 30th June 2024, BNF Bank’s total assets amounted to €1.3 billion, an expansion from the €1.2 billion registered at the end of 2023. Out of 1H 2024’s figure, loans and advances to customers amounted to €975.2 million (December 2023: €950.3 million).
The percentage of total loans and advances to customers which were credit impaired stood at 2.5 per cent (December 2023: 2.6 per cent), and the total credit-impaired exposure amounted to €25.1 million (December 2023: €25.6 million). Credit-impaired and non-credit-impaired loans and advances to customers are largely secured with collateral.
BNF Bank added that its liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and net stable funding ratio (NSFR) remained above regulatory requirements throughout the first six months of 2024 and as at the end of the reporting period, it amounted to 195.6 per cent (December 2023: 250.4 per cent) and 138.1 per cent (December 2023: 140.2 per cent), respectively.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio as at the end of 1H 2024 was 17.4 per cent, a decrease from the 19.3 per cent registered in December 2023.
