BZ WBK to pay 100% of record profits in dividends

Up to 2005 the bank was paying out 40% of its profit in dividends. However, starting this year its shareholders are to receive twice as much. "Our solvency ratio is 17% and we have the capital necessary for development, that is why we will recommend paying out almost all of our 2005 profit as dividend for shareholders. We believe that we will continue paying out almost the whole of our profits until the solvency ratio falls to a satisfactory level of 12%," said Jacek Kseń, BZ WBK president, adding that, "2005 was a record year in terms of net profit but I think that the present year should even be better." Exact figures were not revealed. Analysts  estimate, though, that the bank's 2005 net profit could have surpassed zł.530 million while the figure for 2006 could reach zł.600 million. BZ WBK's primary activity is granting cash loans and financing SMEs. "In 2005, the value of cash loans rose by over 80%. The present year also started with high demand for both cash loans and loans for SMEs," explained Kseń. By the end of 2005, the bank started granting loans to corporations, but with aggressive competition this activity remains only slightly profitable. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) D.W.