Bank Millennium increased its second quarter profit almost eightfold y/y, due to stronger revenue streams and lower provisions against non-performing loans.

In a financial statement the lender said it had made zł.69.5 million, compared to zł.8.9 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. Still, the figure fell below expectations – analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a net profit of zł.134 million.

Millennium, which is controlled by Banco Comercial Portugues, endured a tough 2009 and significantly curtailed its lending over a year ago. In HI, however, the bank loosened its purse strings by modifying restrictions on loans and altering some collateral rules.

The bank rationalized the move because of a, “Visible change [to the] economic situation confirmed by the improvement of macroeconomic indicators and improving condition of enterprises in the first quarter of 2010.”

Returns on the lender's strategy are evident on its balance sheet, with net interest income more than doubling to zł.217.9 million from zł.84.9 million a year earlier.