Alpha Bank records a 7.9 million euro 2009 pre tax profit in Albania

SOFIA, Nov 10؇reece’s Alpha Bank reported on Tuesday a 59.2% fall to 48.6 million euro in its pre-tax profit from operations in Southeast Europe (SEE) through September, mainly due to a rise in impairment charges to account for an anticipated deterioration in credit quality.
The results for SEE in the report cover Alpha Bank’s operations in Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and Macedonia. The bank’s combined deposit portfolio in the six countries fell by an annual 2.2% to 6.085 billion euro at end-September, while loans increased by 5.3% to 11.349 billion euro, Alpha Bank said in a statement.
The bank’s half-year operating income in SEE increased by 7.0% to 385 million euro and operating expenses rose by 7.1% to 222.3 million euro.
In Albania, the bank’s profit before tax reached 7.9 million euro. The loans rose by 31.7% on the year to 535 million euro. The deposits fell by 10.8% to 385 million euro.
Alpha Bank recorded a yearly fall of 39.3% to 344.7 million euro in its group consolidated net profit in the first nine months of 2009.