Ceska sporitelna (98% owned by Erste Bank) announced its 9M unconsolidated unaudited 9M2004 CAS results yesterday. Net interest income was helped by a higher volume of loans to customers, in particular mortgages and consumer loans. The higher volume of transactions had a positive impact on net fees & commissions. Total operating costs were relatively flat despite higher VAT and contributions to the Depositary Insurance Fund. Nevertheless, operating profit rose by 29 % y/y to CZK 7.7bn, slightly below our forecast. Net profit rose by 3 % y/y to CZK 5.73bn, which is less then expected. These figures will, however, be mostly ignored by the market as the important consolidated IFRS figures will be released on November 12.
Tomáš Gatěk, Patria Finance