Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Bank BPH had PLN 788 m (EUR 200.1 m) of net income last year, or 144 percent more than in 2003. The company remains Poland’s third largest bank behind PKO BP and Pekao S.A. Shares of BPH rose 1 percent yesterday as the market expected the results. The management did not reveal whether the dividend would be bigger than last year’s when it amounted to PLN 8.7 a share. ‘I can only say that our investors should be satisfied’, Jozef Wancer, Bank BPH CEO said.
This year, the bank wants to have net income of around PLN 1 billion. ‘Even if net income is 10 percent lower than the CEO plans, investors should not be disappointed. This is the only big bank, which noted growths in all segments of operations, and it was usually higher than the market average. The company has a very aggressive strategy, very good when economic growth is taking place’, Marcin Materna, Millennium DM brokerage analyst commented.
Jozef Wancer said also that the bank is going to invest to develop its network. 50-60 new outlets will be added to present 460. The company will also invest in IT projects.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.254)