Polish banks soar

Poland's biggest lender, PKO BP, worth zł.99 billion in assets, posted a 53-percent jump in Q4 net profit to zł.5.6 billion, bringing earnings up 22 percent to a record zł.2.12 billion. Unicredit's Pekao and BPH banks also announced impressive earnings. Pekao jumped 15-percent in its Q4 net profit to a record high of zł.467.5 million, raising full-year earnings by 16 percent to zł.1.787 billion. BPH's revenue increased almost 13 percent to zł.350.7 million - its full-year profit soaring to zł.1.268 billion. Unicredit plans a merger under the Pekao brand to create Central Europe's biggest lender.

Bank Zachodni WBK sealed its position as Poland's number four bank when it announced a record net profit of zł.758 million, up 47 percent, as Raiffeisen Bank Polska  posted historic net-profit results of zł.248.5 million last year, a growth of 13 percent.

Experts say an accelerating economy and low-interest-rate stability should continue to drive the market upwards through 2007. (Reuters)