* Komercni <> Q2 beats forecasts, shares jump
* Bank raises bad loan provisions almost 3-fold
* Says recovery signs could come by year-end
(Adds comments, shares, details)
By Jan Korselt and Jason Hovet
PRAGUE, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Komercni Banka's net profit fell
by a less-than-expected 14 percent in the second quarter after
the Czech bank created fewer bad loan provisions than analysts
estimated to counter an economic slump that has not run its
course.
Komercni Banka, one of the country's main corporate lenders,
boosted provisioning by 176 percent and said the worst of the
Czech recession would come in the coming months, but that the
first signs of recovery could appear at the end of the year.
Shares in the only listed Czech bank jumped as much as 4.5
percent on Wednesday on the back of forecast beating earnings.
"Overall, we consider the results positive because they beat
market expectations on the operating level and also the lower
level of created provisions for bad loans surprised positively,"
Atlantik FT analyst Milan Lavicka said.
"Komercni Banka again proved that, thanks to its strong
operating levels, it is able to absorb without serious problems
rising costs of bad loans and generate solid profit."
Komercni Banka 's Chief Financial Officer Pavel Cejka told a
news conference that revenue growth would slow this year.
Net attributable profit slipped 14 percent to 2.92 billion
crowns ($164 million) in the second quarter, but was above
analysts' average estimate of 2.7 billion crowns. Net interest
income for the period rose 6.4 percent on the year.
"Recession in the Czech economy significantly impacted
Komercni Banka," CEO Laurant Goutard said.
"But we are ready to face this deterioration in the business
environment," he added, saying rising unemployment was starting
to hit retail banking as much as the corporate segment.
The bank, 60 percent owned by France's Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA>, provisioned 1.25 billion crowns in the quarter after
accounting a similar amount in the first quarter with the
bankruptcy of an energy trader it had financed. []
Czech banks' strong profit growth from the country's boom
years has come to an end as businesses lose orders, pushing the
economy to a a record 3.4 percent fall in the first quarter.
The country's largest bank by assets, Erste Group <ERST.VI>
unit Ceska Sporitelna, reported a 4.4 percent decline in net
profit to 6.3 billion crowns in the first six months of 2009.
In Poland, profit at its No.3 bank, BZ WBK <BZWB.WA>, fell
by a fifth in the second quarter, but lower provisioning kept
the result above analyst estimates. []
Czech banks have been shielded by high levels of savings,
good capital adequacy and low foreign currency borrowing. The
Czech central bank has estimated non-performing loans would rise
to almost 8 percent this year from 3.5 percent.
Komercni shares have dropped 18 percent in the past year,
outperforming a 22.4 percent fall in Prague's index <> and a
30 percent fall for Europe's main banking index <.FTE3X8350ECR>.
($1=17.81 Czech Crown)
(Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Hans Peters and Simon
Jessop and Mariam Karouny)
