BPH record profits follow cost cuts and business boost

BPH Bank has posted a net profit of zł.424 million in the first half of the year, which is more than twice the figure from the same period in 2003. "This is the best quarterly and half yearly result in the history of the bank," said BPH Bank president Józef Wancer. The result is partly due to one-off transactions the bank completed in Q2 2004, including the zł.67 million sale of GBG bank and a zł.15 million dividend from the Commercial Union. The bank has also recorded a 9% growth of revenues from banking activity while decreasing costs by 6%. The value of mortgage loans increased by 70% to zł.6.2 billion which allowed the bank to increase its share in the mortgage loans market from 15.2 to 18.6%. The bank also strengthened its position on the corporate banking market after the value of loans for enterprises increased by 17% and the value of deposits grew by 29% to zł.11 billion. BPH's president has not revealed the forecast for the whole year but announced that the bank would do everything to maintain the positive trend. (Puls Biznesu, p.8; Parkiet, p.5) E.B.