Austrian bank Bawag PSK reported second-quarter net profit of €116.3 million, up from €106.4 million a year ago.

Net interest income increased year over year to €202.9 million from €197.4 million; net fee and commission income amounted to €71.5 million, up from €56.3 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Core revenues increased on a yearly basis to €274.4 million from €253.7 million.

The bank incurred operating expenses of €124.8 million in the second quarter, compared to €110.6 million a year ago.

For the first half, the lender reported a net profit of €202.7 million, compared to €201.5 million in the same period in 2017.

The fully loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 15.2% at the end of June, an increase from 13.5% at Dec. 31, 2017.

For 2018, Bawag is targeting a return on tangible equity of above 15% and to achieve an increase in profit before tax of more than 5%.

For its 2018-2020 targets, the bank aims to maintain a ROTE in the range of 15% to 20% and a fully loaded CET1 ratio of at least 12%. Bawag also aims to achieve a profit before tax of above €600 million in 2020 and pretax average annual EPS of more than €5.70 during the period. The cost-to-income ratio target is below 40%.

Bawag will deploy additional excess capital through 2020 to invest in organic growth and pursue earnings-accretive mergers and acquisitions consistent with its ROTE group targets.