BRE Bank, a unit of Germany's Commerzbank, recorded a below-forecast y/y 14 percent rise in net profit in the Q4 2009.

Core business gains and a one-off dividend from its stake in insurer Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń SA (PZU) helped the corporate bank abate costs arising from provisions and a higher than usual tax rate.

BRE posted a consolidated net profit of zł.42.7 million in Q4. The figure was below an average of zł.55 million forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts, but represented an improvement on the zł.37.5 million recorded in Q4 2008.

The bank paid a tax rate of 47 percent in Q4 2009 compared to 35 percent in the previous quarter. Other costs borne by BRE included zł.199.5 million set aside in provisions against non-performing loans and potential losses on foreign exchange transactions. In 2008 provisions amounted to zł.130 million.

These costs were offset by a 8.6 percent rise in interest income to zł.417.5 million in Q4, which also beat analysts' predictions of zł.409 million. The spectacular zł.92.2 million dividend payout from BRE's PZU stake also boosted the bank's performance.

For the full year 2009, however, BRE Bank's consolidated net profit fell by 82 percent to zł.128.9 million. (GP)

Source: Thomson Reuters