Ceska sporitelna released its 2001 unconsolidated CAS figures this morning. Both operating and net profits were in line with the average market expectation and were slightly better than our forecasts.
Net profit reached CZK 3.03 bil. and thus beat our forecast of CZK 2.65 bil., as did the operating profit of CZK 8.23 bil., predominately due to surprisingly low operating costs of CZK 13,95 bil. (their composition is not known at the moment). We were slightly surprised by the lower-than-expected growth of net fees income (+13% y-to-y). Other main revenue components did not differ from our expectations. Since the figures reported basically represent a mean of the high and low market estimates, the CAS results should not surprise the market and we do not expect a significant stock reaction.
The more important 2001 consolidated IAS results are due to be released on March 22.
(Jan Hajek)