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Investing.com -- Erste Bank (VIE:ERST) stock gained 1% following the bank’s second quarter pre-tax profit of €1,400 million, which exceeded consensus estimates by 10%. The Austrian bank’s strong performance was driven by better-than-expected net interest income and other positive results.
Total (EPA:TTEF) revenues came in 1% above expectations, partially offset by 1% higher costs, resulting in a 2% pre-provision profit beat. Net interest income was 2% above consensus, while fees were 1% below estimates. Trading and other income performed particularly well, coming in 13% better than expected.
The bank reported robust loan growth of 1.8% quarter-over-quarter and 6% YoY, with especially strong performance in Czechia (+3.4% q/q), Slovakia (+2.9%), and Hungary (+4.5%). Austria also showed decent sequential growth. Retail lending grew 2.7% while corporate lending increased 2.1%. Housing loans rose 1.9% q/q (+5.5% YoY) and consumer finance volumes increased 4.2% q/q.
Erste Bank’s CET1 ratio reached 17.45%, exceeding analyst expectations of 17.14%.
Following these results, Erste upgraded several targets for 2025. The bank now expects net interest income to grow slightly (>0% YoY) versus previous guidance of flat performance, driven by more than 5% loan growth. Fee income is still projected to grow by more than 5% YoY, while cost growth is expected around 5% YoY, leading to a cost-income ratio below 50%.
The bank also revised its 2025 cost of risk guidance to 20 basis points from 25 basis points previously and now targets a return on tangible equity above 15%, improved from around 15% previously.
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