Lukas Bank plans to reinvest its zł.278 million 2005 profit

"We will be glad if we repeat the result this year," declared the bank's president Maciej Witucki. The bank plans large investments in 2006. "This year, we launched electronic services. We also want to significantly expand our network. We plan to open 40 new outlets and 50 credit centers. Due to this our retail network will increase to 281 locations," revealed Witucki. The expansion will cost zł.60 million while another zł.30 million will be spent on the modernization of existing outlets. The bank hopes that the increased number of outlets will translate into sales increase. "This year the consumer loans market is to increase by almost 12% and we intend to grow faster. Our aim is also to win the leading position on the credit cards market within two years," added Witucki. In 2005 Lukas Bank issued 294,000 credit cards, while the market leaders, BHW and PKO BP, have over 500,000 cards. Due to the expansion plans the company's board will recommend not to pay dividends from the 2005 profit. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10; Parkiet, p. 7) E.B.