DnB Nord to mesh with BISE on its way to the big time

Norwegian-German lender DnB Nord is awaiting final approval of its merger with fellow lender BISE, 76 percent of which it acquired last December. After getting a green light from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNB), the banks are now waiting for the permission from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). The president of DnB Nord, Jarosław Dąbrowski, hopes that permission will be granted by the end of March so that the consolidated entity could start functioning officially in May.

"We want to complete the merger this year so that we can function as one bank starting from the beginning of 2008," Dàbrowski said. Based on individual results for 2006, the joined banks would have achieved a net profit of close to zł.24.3 million and held assets worth zł.4.8 billion last year.

Dàbrowski hopes that the acquisition will help the bank reach its goal - to enter the top 15 of the Polish banking sector. "We want to achieve this in the next three to five years," Dàbrowski said. He doesn't rule out further acquisitions. "We are not limiting ourselves to the banking sector, so we're looking at the investment-fund market and loan agencies," Dàbrowski disclosed.

DnB Nord had a net profit of zł.12.56 million last year - half a million more than in 2005. This year, the bank's target is zł.18 million. It also wants to increase its employment level by 300 (to 900 workers). Its balance sheet, which reached zł.2.1 billion in 2006, is expected to grow to zł.2.5 billion by the end of this year.