PKO Bank Polski Group achieving consistently high profits, effectiveness and ratings

“Consistent with our declarations, we delivered stable growth in the early part of the year: simultaneously maintaining double-digit net income growth; and high operational efficiency and cost discipline. I am also satisfied with the continued ROE and ROA growth,” sums up Zbigniew Jagiełło, the PKO Bank Polski Management Board President and CEO.

The net profit the PKO Bank Polski Group earned in the 1st quarter of 2012 (PLN1 005 million) mainly results from a high growth rate of operating profit of PLN2 923.3 million (13.3% YoY); its primary contributor being the YoY net interest income growth of 19.8%. This dynamic operating profit growth accompanied by reduced growth rate of administrative expenses translated into further enhancement of the Group’s already high operational efficiency measured by C/I ratio, which after the first three months of the year stood at 39.4%.

The Group’s effectiveness was very high after the 1st quarter of 2012. ROE stood at 17.7% while ROA was 2.1%. Capital adequacy ratio rose to 13.8%; primarily on the back of substantial capital funds growth resulting from the recommendation made by the Bank Management Board and Supervisory Board to its General Meeting on the allocation of the record earnings of the year 2011. The dividend payout ratio of 40.15% translates into the payment of PLN1.27 per share.

The Group’s balance sheet total of PLN189.7 billion signifies YoY growth of PLN17 billion; achieved primarily through lending growth funded through growing customer deposits (up by PLN8.6 billion YoY) and a bond issue. Parallel growth occurred in total loans – gaining another PLN9.3 billion YoY to reach PLN146.9 billion; and deposits – gaining PLN8.6 billion YoY to reach PLN144.2 billion. Some of the products the Bank added to its offer in the 1st quarter of 2012 included: a 6-month structured deposit referenced to the exchange rate of the USD/PLN pair; and new term deposits such as a 1-month deposit of new funds bearing interest of 5.5% per annum combined with an option of reinvestment into a 9-month Progresja deposit, and a 3-month deposit combined with a structured deposit based on the price of crude oil.

Strong creditworthiness of PKO Bank Polski is reflected, among others, in the latest rating of Standard & Poor`s. The credit rating agency assigned the Bank ratings of A- (long-term rating) /A-2 (short-term rating), with stable outlook. The agency’s analysts have duly noted the Bank’s market position and strong capital base as well as its revenue generation potential under conditions of moderate risk and adequate liquidity. The credit rating represents the highest to date Standard & Poor's have assigned to a Polish company. In the recent months this high creditworthiness was likewise confirmed by two other credit rating agencies: Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings. In March 2012 Moody’s Investor Services decided to maintained all its ratings previously assigned to the Bank while in August 2011 Fitch Ratings maintained its support rating for the Bank at “2.”

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PKO Bank Polski is a Polish banking sector leader. Its consolidated net profit for the 1st quarter of 2012 totalled PLN1.005 billion. The Bank has been regularly recognised in prestigious industry rankings. It received the Bank of the Year in Poland honour award of The Banker international monthly. Its financial results and its comprehensive modernisation effort also met with recognition. The Polish Accountancy and Tax Institute honoured the PKO Bank Polski Annual Report for the Year 2010 with the Grand Prize in The Best Annual Report competition, in the Banks and Financial Institutions category. PKO Bank Polski’s two products, namely its cash loan and bank deposit, received the Reader's Digest Product of the Year 2011 honour certificates as those most frequently chosen and most preferred by the customers. Also, the Bank is the winner and holder of such honour awards as: the Golden Banker for the market’s best mortgage product; the Entrepreneur Friendly Bank competition award; the Customer Friendly Firm certificate; and was pronounced the Best Commercial Bank by Warsaw Business Journal. PKO Bank Polski’s innovative corporate banking solutions came out as winners in the Europrodukt competition. In the most recent edition of the contest, the Bank received three statuettes in the product categories of: the payroll account, the consolidated account and the escrow account. Moreover, the iPKO Biznes electronic banking system was granted the European Medal for the second time. PKO Bank Polski is also the country’s strongest image bank as testified by its leadership in the Top Brand ranking run by the Press magazine and The Most Trusted Brand title awarded by the Reader’s Digest monthly. PKO Bank Polski is also the highest worth brand in the Polish banking market. Experts of The Banker magazine assessed its value at USD1.5 billion, while the Polish Brands 2011 ranking of the Rzeczpospolita daily valued it at PLN3.75 billion. According to the Newsweek’s 100 Most Valuable Companies Ranking, it is also the highest net worth bank in Poland. Philanthropic activities of PKO Bank Polski met with recognition of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, which granted the Bank and its Inteligo Financial Services the Benefactor of the Year 2010 statuette; and of the Polish Donors Forum, which granted the Bank the Special Award for its longstanding and consistent support of public interest causes.