NBU's net profit up by 2.8-fold in H1 2024

MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine's (NBU) net profit increased by 2.8-fold to UAH 122.64 billion in the first half of 2024 year-on-year, the bank said in its interim consolidated financial statement for the aforementioned period.

"The greatest impact on the bank's profit was caused by the results of the revaluation of financial instruments in the amount of UAH 115.4 billion, which was mainly due to changes in the official exchange rate and their fair value," Ukrainian media quoted the NBU as saying in its statement.

While the consolidated profit revealed in the NBU's financial statement is not a portion of distributable profit to be transferred to the state budget, it said.

"The National Bank's liabilities in terms of the portion of its distributable income to be transferred to the state budget will be determined based on the results of the whole of 2024 and will be made public in the spring of 2025," it said.

The final amount of the NBU's distributable income to be transferred to the budget in 2025 will depend on this year's actual macroeconomic performance and will be specified following external auditors' confirmation and the NBU Board's approval of the annual financial statements for 2024, the bank said.

The NBU's assets edged down by 0.6% to UAH 2.38 trillion in January-June 2024. According to the NBU, this was due mostly to a 6.5% decline in the international forex reserves to $37.5 billion and a 27.9% drop in funds and deposits in foreign currencies and investment metals to UAH 269.32 billion.

The NBU's loan portfolio decreased 18% to UAH 4.66 billion in January-June 2024 year-on-year, as banks repaid long-term debts on performing loans. At the same time, the share of non-residents' securities in the NBU portfolio increased 11% to UAH 1.19 billion.

Meanwhile the NBU's liabilities declined 7% to UAH 1.83 billion in the first half of the year, partly because "funds of government institutions and other entities" decreased from UAH 140.1 billion to UAH 59.82 billion, and after certificates of deposit issued by the NBU dropped from UAH 621.67 billion to UAH 510.39 billion.

Liabilities on International Monetary Fund loans also decreased 17.7% to UAH 70.8 billion since the beginning of the year due to the scheduled repayment of a portion of Ukraine's debt to the IMF in January-June 2024, the NBU said.

Ukrainian banks' assets grew 31% to UAH 282.81 billion, and the number of banknotes and coins in circulation went up 4.8% to UAH 801.14 billion in January-June 2024, the NBU said.

The NBU's equity grew 29% to UAH 543.26 billion in the first half of the year largely due to this year's accumulated profit, it said.