Bank Zachodni WBK expected to reveal solid Q4 results

Bank Zachodni WBK SA is expected to report a solid fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday as the lender's relatively small loan exposure to troubled industries saved it from heavy bad debt provisioning. BZ WBK, a unit of Allied Irish Banks, is expected to report a net profit of zl. 75 million for October-December, taking the full-year figure to zl. 290 million, according to a Reuters poll of ten analysts yesterday. That would be in line with the management's target to double net profits to zl. 285-zl. 300 million from zl. 151 million in 2001. In the fourth quarter of 2001, BZ WBK reported a zl. 4 million net loss due to high restructuring costs. "Their provisions should fall, probably to the level seen in the second quarter, which was zl. 38 million," said Dariusz Gorski, analyst at ING Securities in Warsaw. Loan loss charges pushed several Warsaw lenders into the red in the fourth quarter and slashed market leader Pekao's full-year net profit by more than a third as Poland's economic slowdown worsened the financial conditions of many borrowers. (Reuters) A.Z.