1Q 05 net profit reached EUR 160.3m, up 71% y/y, in line with our and the market’s expectations (Bloomberg), but above a Reuters consensus of EUR 150m. Net interest income was up 3.6% to EUR 681.2m, slightly below expectations. Net commission income rose 10.9% to EUR 311.1m, slightly above forecasts. The net trading result fell 8.3% to EUR 57.2m. As expected, the 1Q results continued to show significant profit growth. The results confirm the trends seen last year: strong growth in Central Europe and improvement in Austria (mainly driven by cost savings). As costs rose less than revenues, the operating result improved by 8%. The cost / income ratio further improved to 62.4%. The hefty rise in the bottom line was also driven by the decline in income taxes (the CIT fell in Austria to 25% from 34%, and in the Czech Republic from 28% to 26%). On the back of the positive 1Q results the management raised its full year 2005 net profit forecast to EUR 660m from EUR 600m. The upward revision was generally expected.