Strong figures at Millennium but no payouts for shareholders

Bank Millennium's net profit after the first nine months of 2005 reached zł.189.6 million, up from zł.159.3 million in 2004. In the third quarter alone the bank's net profit was zł.60.5 million, which sets the scene for a strong finish to the year.

"In the primary field of activity we have been more and more stable. We are making continuous progress and heading in the right direction," Millennium Bank's CEO, Bogusław Kott, told PAP reporters. He also said he was happy to see his company meeting analysts' expectations, who were predicting Millennium's net profits to hit between zł.57-63 million.

The bank also told reporters that not including so-called unit stances, such as car-loan sales or extraordinary reserves, the bank's growth dynamic would reach 78 percent.

The value of interest on contracts reached zł.461.7 million, up 2.1 percent on 2004. In the third quarter, interest came to zł.143.3 million, not to mention the zł.75 million earned from transaction percentages.

The bank's results boosted its credit-worthiness from 18.5 to 18.8 percent but in an unexpected move the management board refused to pay any extra dividends to stockholders. Instead, Kott said: "We are going to spend this capital to raise products' sales levels, especially loans."