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ERSTEŚ Group Press release Further insights will follow at ca. 11:45 CEST 30 July 2021 Results for H1 / 2021 : Results increase based on solid operating performance and lower risk costs Operating result of 1.69 billion euros driven by improved fee performance , turnaround in net trading & fair value result , and stable net interest income • • . • Risk costs down nearly 90 % YoY in H1 / 2021 , reflecting benign risk environment Half - year net profit increases to 918 million euros Solid lending growth and continued significant deposit inflows Dividends : EUR 1.00 DPS catch - up dividend for 2020 , EUR 1.60 DPS target for FY2021 Erste Group , the leading lender in Central and Eastern Europe , continued its strong business performance in 2021 by posting a 24 % year - on - year rise in its operating result to 1.69 billion euros for the first half of the year ( H1 / 2020 : 1.36 billion euros ) . This was driven by solid net interest income , a significant rise in net fee and commission income and the strong increase in the net trading and fair value result . With the risk environment in the region remaining favourable in the first half of 2021 , the banking group posted risk costs of 83 million euros , compared to 675 million euros a year earlier , when Erste undertook a front - loading response to the risk associated with the outbreak of the Covid crisis . The Group's net profit increased to 918 million euros ( H1 / 2020 : 294 million euros ) . The comparison to a pre - Corona year : net profit was 732 million euros for the first half of 2019 . Erste Group CFO Stefan Dörfler : " As we're a bank that's closely linked to the real economy , the ongoing macro upswing is directly reflected in our balance sheet . A solid earnings situation , stable costs and a significantly lower volume of risk provisions compared to the Corona year 2020 have all contributed to a clear improvement in our half - year results . We are cautiously optimistic for the year 2021 as a whole , even as we are aware that much depends on the further course of the pandemic and its medium - term impact on the economy . " OPERATING INCOME POSTS 9.2 % GAIN Net interest income increased by 2.2 % year - on - year to 2.45 billion euros , primarily due to one - off effects in connection with the take - up of the European Central Bank's longer - term refinancing operations ( TLTRO III ) in Austria and Slovakia . Net fee and commission income rose by nearly 15 % to 1.10 billion euros , reflecting increases posted across all fee and commission categories and core markets . Significant fees growth was seen most notably in payment services , as well as in asset management and in the securities business . Valuation effects helped lift the total revenues attributable to the net trading result and the line item gains / losses from financial instruments measured at fair value to 127 million euros , compared to 9 million euros a year earlier . Collectively , these developments led operating income in the first half of 2021 to increase by 9.2 % year - on - year to 3.79 billion euros . EXPENSES UNDER CONTROL Thanks to strict cost management , general administrative expenses were reduced by 0.6 % year - on- year to 2.10 billion euros , supported by a 1.3 % decline in personnel expenses to 1.25 billion euros . Page 1/3