Bank Millenium to increase equity following Q4 losses

Medium-sized lender Bank Millenium yesterday showed a surprising net loss for the fourth quarter, due to heavy bad debt provisions, and also unveiled plans for an equity increase to finance growth. Millenium, formerly known as BIG Bank Gdanski, reported a zl. 63 million net loss in October-December after raising loan loss provisions by zl. 154 million in the last quarter to zl. 334 million for the whole of 2002. But its full-year net profit stood at zl. 184 million, up sharply from zl. 20 million in 2001, mainly thanks to one-off gains from sales of its assets and robust non-interest income. Chief Executive Boguslaw Kott said the lender, controlled by Portugal's top private bank, Banco Comercial Portugues, might issue new shares or take a subordinated loan in the second half of the year or in early 2004. "We will have to give serious consideration to raising our equity capital because of our planned business expansion," Kott told a news conference. (Reuters) A.Z.