The state-owned bank, which is due to be privatised by the end of 2019, said that in "the extremely low interest rate environment", interest income amounted to EUR 29.5m, a 19.3% drop, and net fee and commission income to EUR 18.5m, a 3.7% decrease.

Other net non-interest revenue amounted to EUR 16.5m after it stood at EUR 5.9m in the same period last year. The increase is mostly the result of a package sale of non-performing loans in March.

The bank's net cancelled impairments and provisions in this period amounted to EUR 13.4m, which compares to EUR 8.6m in the first half of 2017.

Abanka's total assets amounted to EUR 3.7bn at the end of June, while its market share in terms of total assets was 9.6%.

"The bank has high liquidity and a strong capital base, which is also reflected in the liquidity and capital ratios. As at the reporting date, Abanka's total capital ratio stood at 23.1%," the unaudited report says.

In the first six months of 2018, the Abanka group reduced non-performing loans by EUR 128.6m, while the share of non-performing loans in total loans decreased by 4.7 percentage points to 5.5%.

Abanka said it continued to streamline operations, which has resulted in a 2.2% or EUR 0.6m year-on-year reduction of operating expenses, which totalled EUR 33.6m.

"In the second half of 2018, the bank will not only continue with the optimisation of its operations but will also take on the new challenges of digitalisation...In parallel, activities relating to the sale of the bank will be performed in accordance with the commitment made to the European Commission," the report moreover says.