The CEO of Bank BPH, Jozef Wancer, has confirmed that the bank's 2005 net profit exceeded PLN 1bn. This is positive, as we are forecasting a 2005 net profit of PLN 966m and the consensus is at PLN 950.7m. In our opinion, the market should have been prepared for this, as, lately, bank representatives have flagged that 4Q05 results were good. The CEO did not shed any light on the planned merger, stating simply that he expects a decision to be made in 1Q06. We maintain our Hold rating on the stock (on the valuation grounds) with a fair value estimate of PLN 740.3 per share (including a 10% uplift to our stand-alone valuation on synergy from a probable merger with Bank Pekao). We do not expect this latest statement to have a material impact on the stock price today.