Fortis Bank promises brighter future after poor 2002

Last year proved less than spectacular for Fortis Bank. The stock-listed bank failed to produce its forecast profit, had a lower-than-planned return on equity, and the value of the loans it granted remained almost unchanged while the value of deposits dropped. The bank's management promised that 2003 would be substantially better - "We want to increase the number of customers in the personal banking sector by 25% from the current 11,000 and the number of corporate clients (currently 9,000) by 20%. We do not plan to merge with any other financial institution," said Ronnie Richardson, president of Fortis Bank Polska. In 2002, the bank earned over zl. 30 million - substantially less than expected. Fortis Bank stated that the negative result was due to economic growth being much slower than anticipated. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 5) M.M.