Spanish tango

Santander, the euro zone's largest bank, could be considering purchasing the so-called "mini-BPH" which will come about as a result of the split of Bank BPH, following the merger of its mother companies German bank HVB and Italian lender Unicredit. Santander bank's president, Emilio Botin, told Reuters that the company is analyzing the situation in Poland and will be able to say more in a month's time.

The statement, though general, set off a fury of speculation that Santander was looking to buy the EUR 0.65-1.6 (zł.2.54-6.24) billion mini-BPH, which is set to hit the market in September at the latest. Under the contract between Unicredit and the Polish government, the bigger part of BPH will be taken over by Bank Pekao, to create Central Europe's biggest lender. The smaller part will consist of 200 outlets and will keep the BPH brand.

Last year, Santander posted a net profit of EUR 7.6 (zł.29.7) billion.

Bank BPH has been enjoying increasing prosperity. By the estimates of BPH's president, his bank saw zł.1.2 billion in profit last year, the last quarter being the best in the bank's history. As BPH's chief executive Józef Wancer declares, mini-BPH will also be well-equipped to compete on the Polish market and will remain one of Poland's top 10 lenders.