BIG Bank Gdanski group happy with third quarter result

The BIG Bank Gdanski group reported a zl. 247 million net profit for the first three quarters of 2002, which is a significant increase from last year 's profit of zl. 15 million. The improved result was partly due to consolidated income from net interest amounting to zl. 498 million, 24% more than for 2001 and a positive result on financial transactions of zl. 354 million. The higher profits were also helped by a zl. 56 million net profit on the sale of the bank's pension fund PTE BIG-BG. According to the bank's chairman Boguslaw Kott, apart from the income from the sale of the pension fund, the bank has benefitted from its restructuring. "We achieved good results in a very difficult period," Kott told journalists. "The financial situation of our customers is declining. We have to deal with a regress in retail banking. One cannot see any signs of an economic recovery." Due to negative economic indicators, the group increased its reserves by zl. 180 million, with the BIG Bank accounting for zl. 106 million of this sum. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B7; Parkiet, p. 4) M.T.