Raiffeisen International declares pre-tax profits 56% down on the year

TIRANA, August 13؂anking group Raiffeisen International said on Thursday itgenerated129 million euro in pre-tax profit from operations in Southeastern Europe (SEE) in the first half of 2009, down 56% year-on-year.
“That result was based on good operating income at the level of the comparable period in the preceding year,” Raiffeisen International said in a statement.
“However, increased provisioning for impairment losses burdened earnings considerably,” it added.
Raiffeisen International’s consolidated pre-tax profit plunged by 81.7% to 154 million euro in the year’s first half. Its after-tax profit dropped 81.6% to 119 million euro and consolidated profit after tax and minorities shrank 86.2% to78 million euro.
Through June, the group opened 156 new outlets in Southeastern Europe, of which 92 in Romania and 21 in Bulgaria.
In SEE Europe, Raiffeisen International operates in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia.