Bank Millennium holds back on dividends for second year

Mid-sized lender Bank Millennium will use its zl. 184 million 2002 group profit to create a general risk provision rather than paying dividends, the bank said in a statement yesterday. Millennium, controlled by Portugal's top private bank Banco Comercial Portugues, has said it is considering raising its capital after posting a surprise fourth-quarter net loss on heavy provisions for bad loans. Millennium did not pay a dividend in 2001. Last year most Polish banks saw higher provisioning for lending to borrowers hit by the country's economic slowdown. (Reuters) A.Z.