Czech bank MONETA on track to possibly exceed 2024 profit target

Moneta Money Bank, A.s

25/07/2024 08:29

PRAGUE, July 25 (Reuters) - Czech lender MONETA Money
Bank  MONET.PR  reported a nearly 13% rise in second-quarter net
profit on Thursday and said it was confident it would meet or
exceed its full-year target of 5.2 billion crowns ($221.70
million).
    Net profit reached 1.42 billion crowns in the quarter, in
line with the average estimate in a Reuters poll, and was at
2.70 billion crowns in the first six months, more than halfway
to its goal.
    Chief Executive Tomas Spurny said an increase in deposits
even amid a cycle of decreasing interest rates, lending growth
and its strategy of cross-selling wealth management products was
putting the bank on track for profit targets.
    "All in all, the bank's management has confidence that we
will meet and potentially over-perform the ... target for 2024,"
he said in a call with reporters about the bank's net profit
goal.
    Government talks over a possible banking sector tax, and
whether that would apply this year, were keeping MONETA cautious
about revising its full-year profit target, Spurny said.
    MONETA, the country's sixth biggest bank, lifted lending
volumes by over 40% in the first half of the year, and its loan
portfolio growth so far this year is around 3%. Spurny said he
expected loan portfolio growth of 5-7% in 2024.
    He also said the bank was aiming to decrease the cost of
deposit to around 2.1%-2.2% by the end of the year, from 2.99%
at end-June.
    Loan provisioning was also below analysts' expectations in
the second-quarter, helping the bottom line. The bank is
targeting the sale of non-performing loans in the amount of 700
million crowns this year, Spurny said.
    The bank also said it continued to accrue 90% of
consolidated net profit into a dividend account, which currently
held 2.4 billion crowns, or 4.80 crowns per share.
    MONETA shareholders, including its largest, the Czech
investment group PPF, approved a 9.00 crown per share dividend
from 2023 earnings.
     

($1 = 23.4550 Czech crowns)

 (Reporting by Jason Hovet
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((jason.hovet@thomsonreuters.com;))