Bank Pekao Q1 profits down, bad loans up

Bank Pekao, said on Monday that its Q1 net profit dropped 12% as sluggish economic growth hit revenues and kept bad debt provisions high. The group's net profit of zł. 256 million came below analysts' forecasts in a Reuters poll at zł. 280 million, including a zł. 50 million one-off net gain from the sale of a stake in card clearance centre PolCard. Pekao, in which Italy's UniCredito holds a 53.2% stake, said its bad debt ratio inched up in the quarter, signalling that difficult economic conditions continued to trouble lenders early this year. Pekao said non-performing loans amounted to 21% of its portfolio in March, up from 19.9% in December. Net provisions were up 3% to zł. 183 million, but below analysts' expectations of zł. 199 million. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5; Reuters) A.K.