Debt pays off for
Net earnings at the bank rose to zł.883 million in H1, with unconsolidated net profits totaling zł.462 million. The group's net profit came in at zł.467 million.
"Overall, their results are not that bad," said Dariusz Górski, an analyst at DB Securities. "Their interest margins look to have improved and even though their loan growth was weaker in the second quarter than in the first, it was still quite good."
The bank's share price rose to zł.29.3, within striking distance of their all-time high, in response to the news. PKO, which is Eastern Europe's biggest bank, said that its loan book was up by zł.3 billion to zł.44 billion in the first half. H1 net interest income, which accounts for more than half of its total revenues, rose one percent to zł.1.77 billion, thanks to continued strong demand for mortgages and other retail credit products.
Rising government-debt prices also paid off. PKO holds more than zł.20 billion in government-debt instruments, which is nearly a quarter of its assets. The yield on the benchmark five-year T-bond, which moves in reverse to its price, dropped nearly one percentage point to 4.63 percent over the second quarter.
Foreign-exchange transactions proved a major fillip, and almost doubled to zł.332 million in the first six months of this year. The bank says it is now on the lookout for potential acquisitions in CEE, particularly in Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.
PKO, in which the Polish state holds a 53-percent stake, is the most profitable major bank in Poland, with a return-on-equity efficiency measure of around 20 percent. (Reuters)
"Overall, their results are not that bad," said Dariusz Górski, an analyst at DB Securities. "Their interest margins look to have improved and even though their loan growth was weaker in the second quarter than in the first, it was still quite good."
The bank's share price rose to zł.29.3, within striking distance of their all-time high, in response to the news. PKO, which is Eastern Europe's biggest bank, said that its loan book was up by zł.3 billion to zł.44 billion in the first half. H1 net interest income, which accounts for more than half of its total revenues, rose one percent to zł.1.77 billion, thanks to continued strong demand for mortgages and other retail credit products.
Rising government-debt prices also paid off. PKO holds more than zł.20 billion in government-debt instruments, which is nearly a quarter of its assets. The yield on the benchmark five-year T-bond, which moves in reverse to its price, dropped nearly one percentage point to 4.63 percent over the second quarter.
Foreign-exchange transactions proved a major fillip, and almost doubled to zł.332 million in the first six months of this year. The bank says it is now on the lookout for potential acquisitions in CEE, particularly in Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.
PKO, in which the Polish state holds a 53-percent stake, is the most profitable major bank in Poland, with a return-on-equity efficiency measure of around 20 percent. (Reuters)
