Raiffeisen Bank Polska confirms it is in for the long haul

"Such a decision would have no economic justification, as Raiffeisen is a pioneer on emerging and tough markets. The institution operates through subsidiaries and not branches on foreign markets," explained Raiffeisen Bank Polska (RBP) president Piotr Czarnecki. As a proof of the bank's intentions, Czarnecki stressed that RBP recently received a financial injection from the Austrian parent company amounting to over zł. 74 million. The transaction was necessary due to the rapid growth of the institution which lowered its solvency ratio to 11% over the last six months. In the first half of 2003, the bank has increased its deposits by 32% and expanded its loans portfolio by almost 40%. Moreover, after the period it posted a zł. 31.7 million net profit and thus exceeded its full year forecast of zł. 30 million. The bank needs to decrease its ratio of costs to revenues which still amount to 70%. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 8) M.M.