Moneta's net profit up 5.8 percent to CZK 1.3 billion in Q1

Moneta Money Bank's net profit rose 5.8 percent year-on-year to CZK 1.3 billion in the first quarter of this year. The result is in line with the bank's expectations and was mainly driven by good operating profit and lower operating costs. Moneta said in a press release today. Operating income rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 3.1 billion crowns in the first quarter and operating expenses fell 3.8 percent to 1.5 billion crowns. Moneta Money Bank is one of the largest companies traded on the Prague Stock Exchange, with financial group PPF as its largest shareholder.

Net interest income rose 2.2 percent year-on-year to CZK 2.1 billion in the January-March period. Net fee and commission income was up 20.1 percent to CZK 740 million. According to the bank, the increase was mainly due to higher commissions from the sale of third-party products, where fee income from investment funds amounted to CZK 145 million and income from insurance reached CZK 322 million. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, fee income from investment funds doubled and insurance income rose by about 14 percent.

"The excellent performance of investment product revenues was achieved due to higher demand for these products. This is because savers and investors are shifting their funds from savings accounts where there has been a general decline in interest rates following the reduction in key rates by the Czech National Bank," Moneta said.

The drop in operating costs was driven by, among other things, a year-on-year reduction in regulatory fees of almost 14.6 per cent. Administrative and other expenses were down 10.6 per cent and depreciation of tangible and intangible assets also fell by 6.8 per cent. "These positive trends were partly offset by a 7.3 per cent increase in staff costs to CZK 620 million," the bank added.

Demand for new loans increased in the first quarter. The volume of new loans rose 23.8 percent year-on-year to CZK 12.9 billion. According to the bank, demand was particularly strong in the retail segment, where the volume of new mortgages rose by 34.7 per cent to CZK 3.1 billion and the volume of new consumer loans amounted to CZK 4.8 billion, up 38.6 per cent year-on-year. Overall, retail loans reached CZK 180.3 billion as of 31 March 2024.

Commercial performing loans grew in gross terms due to growth in most products. Operating loans grew 36.2 per cent year-on-year to CZK 17.7 billion, while the portfolio of loans to sole traders and small businesses increased by 14.7 per cent to CZK 14.4 billion, with new volumes up 60 per cent. The amount of investment loans fell slightly to CZK 45.3 billion. Overall, commercial loans increased by 6.4 per cent year-on-year to CZK 87.2 billion as at 31 March 2024.

The total gross performing loan portfolio thus reached CZK 267.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.
Customer deposits grew 15.9 per cent year-on-year to CZK 406 billion, with retail deposits up 17.5 per cent to CZK 315 billion and commercial deposits up 10.9 per cent to CZK 91 billion.

Moneta Group's consolidated balance sheet total increased by 15.7 per cent year-on-year to CZK 468 billion as at 31 March 2024, mainly due to growth in customer deposits.

In its medium-term outlook for 2024 to 2028, the bank expects to achieve a cumulative net profit of 27.7 billion crowns, 32 percent higher than the cumulative net profit delivered in the previous five years. For the full year, it expects a net profit of 5.2 billion kronor.

Source: Moneta Group and CTK