Profits of Bulgarian banks returned to their 2005 levels

Bank profits at the end of last year returned to their 2005 levels, BNB data show. Banks ended the year with positive financial results of BGN 586 million which are comparable to results of BGN 584 million from six years ago. In all other years of the mentioned period profits were higher. Overall 9 banks out of 31 banks in Bulgaria reported losses. In 2011 Alpha Bank recorded the worst financial results of BGN 44.05 million, followed by BACB with BGN 34.21 million. Emporiki Bank ranked third with a loss of BGN 11.25 million. On the other pole is UniCredit Bulbank which reported the highest profits - BGN 232.04 million, followed by DSK Bank with profits of just BGN 85 million.Corporate Commercial Bank ranks third with a profit of BGN 60 million. News is good about bad loans, as BNB reports a decline in their growth rate. At the end of 2011 the share of non-performing loans (90 days overdue) was 14.93% from the total gross loans for the business and the households compared to 14.45% at the end of September, and 13.53% at the end of June. However, the practice of saving money for rainy days continues. Households and companies deposited a total of BGN 1.4 billion in the last three months of 2011, and BGN 2.6 billion in the entire 2011.