Billion-dollar record

The net profit of the PZU Group in 2005 amounted to zł.3.21 billion, which is a growth of more than 51 percent in comparison with 2004.

"We are the most profitable insurer in Central and Eastern Europe and the first Polish financial institution ever to earn a net billion dollars in a year," the president of Grupa PZU Cezary Stypułkowski said.

The group's main arms, PZU SA and PZU Życie (life insurance), both contributed significantly to the result. PZU SA had a profit of zł.1.74 billion, a 28-percent increase year-on-year, plus it received a dividend of zł.956 million from PZU Życie. The latter company earned zł.1.41 billion in 2005, most of which will be paid as a dividend to PZU SA next year.

The growth of the group's profit partly resulted from increased revenues from premiums, which grew by 2.3 percent in PZU SA and by over 11 percent in PZU Życie. Profits were also helped by the company's investment policy, which resulted in revenue from deposits growing by nearly 17 percent, as well as decreased costs. The group's result inspired the company to pay out a dividend to its shareholders. According to Stypułkowski, the dividend should reach 50 percent of profits.

Stypułkowski also confirmed that the company is interested in buying Bank BPH. "PZU would be a good partner for BPH if the merger with Pekao doesn't go through," he said. However, he added that right now PZU has no resources to undertake such an investment. As for other acquisitions, he disclosed that the company is interested in companies in the CEE region.

Regarding plans for 2006, Stypułkowski didn't want to give a prognosis. However, he said that the group has a chance to repeat its good results, so long as favorable conditions on the market are maintained.