Bank Pekao SA to cease issuing annual profit forecasts

Bank Pekao SA said yesterday it had decided to stop publishing annual profit forecasts from this year due to global and domestic uncertainties. Sources close to the bank have said the unit of UniCredito Italiano missed its ambitious 2002 net profit target because of an industry slump and failure to close a large stake disposal. "There is too much instability in the world and uncertainty about the country's macroeconomic situation, so we have decided to stop publishing net profit forecasts," Pekao spokesman Sebastian Luczak told Reuters. In the last two years, Pekao unveiled its closely-watched net earnings goals together with the release of fourth-quarter data. The bank, whose shares bounced back 1.2% yesterday after sliding 10% this year, will report its 2002 parent company data next Wednesday and group figures a week later. In early January, sources said that Pekao, once seen as one of the best-managed and most profitable financial groups in Central Europe, fell short of its zl. 1 billion net profit goal for 2002 by zl. 100 million. (Reuters) A.Z.