Pekao and ING BSK bask in light of improving economy

Pekao saw its earning increase by 15.6% compared to the same period last year, totaling some zł.296.2 million. However, that said, the bank's total revenues dropped slightly to zł.1.027 billion. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Pekao's president, assured the press the results though are promising, particularly in the light of the bank's current restructuring. Similarly optimistic prospects and improved results were posted by the ING BSK group, which announced a Q1 net profit of zł.52.7 million, a figure almost twice as much as for the whole of 2003. Although it saw its profits rocket, the bank reported poorer results from interest and fees and lost a sizeable share of the credit market, while the number of personal bank accounts held with it fell to under 1 million. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 10) K.J.