Bank Millennium opts for massive dividend pay out

Millennium's record results are mostly due to one-off transactions. "We made a net profit zł.75 million on our core activity," revealed Bogusław Kott, the president of Bank Millennium, "The rest of the profit comes from one-off transactions - the sale of a 10% stake in PZU and car loans portfolio." He added that the board would recommend paying out zł.237.8 million, that is 99% of the profit, in dividends. Kott admitted that the proposal is connected with the bank's high solvency ratio, which amounts to 22.4% and is among the highest on the market. "The dividend is tempting," stated Andrzej Powierża, an analyst with DI BRE Bank, "But the bank's results with the exclusion of one-off transactions are not delightful. The company still has high costs and its ROE from its core activity amounts to 4% while in the case of most effective large banks it exceeds 15%." (Puls Biznesu, p. 12; Parkiet, p. 4) E.B.