From the beginning of the year to the end of September, the net profit of České spořitelna fell by 2.9 percent to CZK 14.6 billion, ČSOB by five percent to 13.6 percent, Komerční banka by 4.9 percent to CZK 12.4 billion, Raiffeisenbank by 27 .5 percent to CZK 3.96 billion and, in the case of Moneta Money Bank, by 3.7 percent to four billion crowns. Conversely, the Czech and Slovak UniCredit Bank reported a net profit of 8.5 billion crowns, which was an increase of more than a quarter.
These banks are subject to the so-called windfall tax, which was approved by the government as a 60 percent tax surcharge on excess profits. This corresponds to the difference between the tax base and the average cost of the tax base for the last four years increased by 20 percent. The revenue from the tax is to be used by the government to cover the extraordinary costs that the state will have in connection with setting maximum energy prices.
However, the current results of the banking houses confirm that this tax, at least from the point of view of withdrawal from the banking sector, will not bring the promised revenues to the state budget, noted XTB analyst Tomáš Cverna.
Interest income is falling
“Banks operating in the Czech Republic have already seen their best in the current cycle. In the first nine months of the year, due to the imposition of rising deposit financing costs, net interest income fell at all six of the largest banks operating on the domestic market,” he said. According to him, the pressure on interest margins was also put by keeping interest rates of the Czech National Bank at the current level.
Despite worse year-on-year performance, banks managed to keep their loan portfolios very healthy, he added.
