SEE Contributes 33% of Raiffeisen International’s ’08 Pre-tax Profit

SOFIA, May 23ؔhe region of South Eastern Europe (SEE) contributed 33% of last year’s pre-tax profit of banking group Raiffeisen International, the group said.
Raiffeisen International’s consolidated net profit rose by 16.7% to 982 million EUR in 2008, Raiffeisen said in a statement posted on its website. Pre-tax profit rose by 15% to 1.43 billion EUR last year.
“In the region of Southeastern Europe, profit before tax amounted to 534 million EUR and was therefore significantly above the preceding year’s comparable value of 476 million EUR,” Raiffeisen International said.
Growth of pre-tax profit in SEE was mostly due to the strong increase of net interest income and net fee and commission income.
“The region registered the second-highest earnings of all segments. Because of a significantly higher equity base, the return on equity before tax fell by 4.5 percentage points to 25.8%,” the group added.
“The SEE region registered the second-highest earnings of all segments. Because of a significantly higher equity base, the return on equity before tax fell by 4.5 percentage points to 25.8%”.
Net interest income in SEE increased by 29%, or 215 million EUR, to 947 million EUR, while balance sheet assets rose by 12% to 25.2 billion EUR. Net fee and commission income rose by 20% from 385 million EUR to 463 million EUR.
In SEE Europe, Raiffeisen International operates in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia.
The CIS region posted the highest regional contribution by delivering 40% of Raiffeisen International’s profit before tax.
Raiffeisen International is a fully-consolidated subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB).