After a bumper year, Lukas Bank is cautious about 2005

"The increase in our credit portfolio compared to Q1 of 2004 was about 24%," said Bastien Charpentier, president of Credit Agricole Polska, owner of the Lukas group. In the current year the Wrocław based bank is not counting on significantly increasing its profits. "Last year we posted a net profit of zł.245 million, which was a record in the history of the group. If we manage to repeat such positive results it would mark a success. Our cautious projections for 2005 are not connected with the bank ceasing to develop, we are planning large investments," explained Charpentier. The bank plans to launch an integrated IT system, open another 10 branches (currently it owns 114 branches) and open 50 credit centers. This year, Lukas Bank projects an increase in the number of credit cards it will issue and a 30% increase in granted loans. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10; Parkiet, p. 6) D.W.