Commercial banks in Bulgaria posted BGN 795 M net profit for the first nine months of 2015, an increase of 32% year-on-year and 7% above the figure for the whole of 2014, the central bank has said.

The nine-month profit of the 28 commercial banks doing business in Bulgaria was also higher than the earnings of BGN 780 M posted for the post-crisis year 2009, investor.bg noted in its coverage of the news. The Bulgarian banks’ profit had been falling for five years in a row starting in 2008. The first increase was registered in 2013. The banks’ profit rose last year as well.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) attributed the improved profitability of the banking sector on an annual basis in January-September mainly to lower interest expenses as well as higher income from commission and fees and decreased impairment costs.

The assets of the banking system increased in the third quarter with the balance sheet total of the sector increasing by BGN 1.6 B, or 1.9%, to BGN 85.5 B.

The liquid assets of the banking sector increased by BGN 1.4 B between end-June and end-September, reaching BGN 25.1 B.

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