Bank Zachodni increases reserves despite posting big profits

Bank Zachodni WBK, ranked eighth in terms of its capital, has posted a net profit of zł.252 million in the first six months of 2004, marking a growth of almost 130% compared to the same period last year. The impressive result is largely due to a zł.52 million dividend the bank received from the Commercial Union group and zł.55 million returned from the sale of shares in CardPoint. BZ WBK also managed to decrease its costs by 8% in the first half of the year. However, the bank increased its reserves by zł.28 million, surprising market analysts. BZ WBK's president Jacek Kseń explained that the reserves increase was a result of the review of its credit portfolio. Despite this, the share of bad loans in the bank’s credit portfolio decreased by over 2% in comparison with the previous year and amounts now to 10.7%. (Puls Biznesu, p.8; Parkiet, p.2) E.B.