Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Poland’s second and third largest banks presented good results but investors were not very optimistic.
The two banks facing the merger had much to prove. Bank BPH which is going to be divided and acquired by Pekao wanted to show that it is by no means worse then its rival. Pekao wanted to convince that it is good enough to seize control over the third largest bank in Poland. In the first three quarters, Pekao had PLN 1.3 billion (EUR 346.6m) of net income, or 17 percent more than in the same period of last year. Bank BPH, also controlled by Italian Unicredi, had PLN 917m of net income, or 28 percent more than a year earlier.
Pekao had PLN 1.6 billion of operating income while Bank BPH PLN 1.2 billion. Return on equity amounted to 21 percent and 24.3 percent respectively. Although the results met analysts’ expectations, investors did not react. Just after the results were published, the stock of both banks started to fall. Pekao ended 0.3 percent up at PLN 214.1. Bank BPH closed 1.5 percent down at PLN 875.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.262)