(Repeats story published late on Wednesday)
By Jan Korselt
PRAGUE, May 14 (Reuters) - Komercni Banka <>, the
only listed Czech bank, booked a 16.6 percent rise in
first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, helped by continuing
strong demand for loans in the fast-growing economy.
Net profit at the bank, 60.35 percent owned by France's
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, reached 3.02 billion crowns ($546.8
million), slightly above the average forecast of 2.99 billion in
a Reuters poll of nine analysts.
Revenue increased 12.5 percent to 7.85 billion crowns in the
January-March period, above a market forecast of 7.74 billion,
buoyed by 16.5 percent jump in net interest income.
Fees and commissions rose by 4.3 percent to 1.95 billion
crowns on 4 percent inflow of new customers.
"The group was successful in all its main activities while
the client base and business volumes continued to expand," the
bank said in a report.
Though the results of the third biggest Czech bank came
broadly in line with expectations, the stock fell after the
release as some investors took profits after a bull run in
previous days.
The stock closed 2.5 percent lower at 4245 crowns,
underperforming a 0.8 rise in Prague bourse's PX index <>.
"In previous days, there was speculation that the results
could be bring a substantial positive surprise," said Milan
Lavicka, analyst at Atlantik FT. "The investors realised there
was nothing that could drive the stock further up."
Total lending jumped 23.8 percent from a year ago to 328.5
billion crowns, though its portfolio of mortgages rose just 3.9
percent since the beginning of the year, in line with the
market, as demand cooled after years of fast expansion.
Chief Executive Laurent Goutard told a press conference he
saw a slowdown in mortgage growth to 5 to 10 percent this year,
while the bank earlier expected 15 to 20 percent.
Komercni said growth in recurring profit, which excludes
extraordinary items such as the sale of real estate in the first
quarter last year, came in at 20.6 percent.
Goutard said he was "still optimistic for the rest of 2008",
though some slowdown could be expected due to signs of a cooling
economy and slowing demand for mortgages.
"We cannot consider the (growth of) 20 to 25 percent in
recurring profit in the mid-term and long-term perspective as
sustainable," Goutard said, confirming a previous mid-term
outlook for 10 to 12 percent growth.
"For sure we can see some slowdown in the economy, we know
that the market is competitive and mature ... I continue to
think that for 2009 and 2010 if we are able to reach a growth of
10 to 12 percent, it would be a nice target," he added.
(Additional reporting by Martin Dokoupil; Editing by David
Holmes)
