Bumper dividend boosts Bank Handlowy dealing

In one of the transactions as many as 1.2 million stocks were sold, which constitutes nearly 1% of the company's capital. The buyer paid zł.73.1 per share. The value of the transaction is close to zł.90 million. Meanwhile, over the last two weeks the bank's sales volume was only slightly over 40,000 shares on average. The investors' interest in Bank Handlowy's shares increased in June, and was due to the enormous dividend the bank is going to pay to its shareholders in September. The company will pay not only its whole profit for the year 2004, but also part of its capital. On the whole, some zł.1.56 million will be distributed among the shareholders. The last day on which one can buy the bank's shares in order to be granted a dividend is this Wednesday, which is most probably the reason for the increased interest in the company. Bank Handlowy's majority shareholder is Citigroup, which owns 75% of the shares. (Parkiet, p. 3) A.F.