Česká spořitelna has reported that its profits rose 15.4 percent increase in profits in the first quarter of the year to CZK 4.1bn. The improvement is the result of a rising volume of loans as well as higher interest rates. Board chairman Tomáš Salamon said that the bank’s loan book grew 9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017 thanks to new mortgages and credit secured by small and mid-sized businesses. He added that deposits from households and companies rose 7 percent during the period.
There was good news for the bank’s owner, Erste Bank, which turned in profits of €333m for the first quarter, a rise of 26.8 percent. Economic growth in eastern Europe has driven the improvement as the bank managed to reduce its reserves for bad loans. Interest revenues rose 3 percent to €1.1bn while those from charges grew 4.6 percent to €478.6m.
