Macau, China, Nov. 13, 2024 (Lusa) - Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU), a Macau-based unit of Portugal's state savings bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitios, on Wednesday announced a nine-month net profit of 444.2 million patacas (€52.25 million), down 3.4% on the same period last year.

Net interest income in the period was down 11.7 million patacas (€1.37 million) or 1.5%, "mainly due to the change in the composition of deposits and the prevailing interest rate environment," the institution said in a statement.

This was "partially offset by the increase in net commission income" - which rose by 2.7 million patacas (€317,000), or 4.3%, "sustained by a recovery in economic activity," it added.

BNU also indicated that it "recorded impairments on loans and investments" totalling 20.9 million patacas (€2.4 million), an increase of 4.6 million patacas (€541,000) compared to the same period in 2023.

With regard to operating expenses, these rose by 5.3 million patacas (€623,000) or 1.7% compared to the first nine months of last year, with the bank indicating that "cost-cutting initiatives, such as optimising operating processes and reviewing the services offered, were not enough to fully compensate for the increase in digitalisation expenses, the rise in staff costs and the increase in marketing expenses."

The bank also said that BNU's "total capital ratio reached 25.7%" - that is, up 1.7 percentage points on the same period in 2023 and maintaining "adequate liquidity levels".

BNU is headquartered in Macau and, together with the Bank of China, it is the bank that issues currency in the Chinese special administrative region.

CAD/ARO // ARO.

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