In an interview with Polish daily Puls Biznesu, Jacek Oblekowski, management board member of PKO BP, stated that the retail segment profit in 1H06 reached a record high. The daily has speculated that PKO BP’s net profit may have exceeded PLN 1bn for 1H06 and could reach more than PLN 2bn for the full-year.
Our view: We aren’t surprised that retail earnings at PKO BP have reached a new record high – this is in line with market expectations. There is no consensus estimate available for 1H06 but PLN 1bn is likely to be on the high end, given that net earnings came in at PLN 481.9m for 1Q06, up 24.8% q/q and 15.9% y/y. For the full-year, the consensus stands at PLN 1,965m and our estimate at PLN 1,938m. We would not expect a positive trading impact from the news story but it should reinforce positive investor sentiment towards the banks, as we head into the 2Q06 reporting season – already kicked off by better-than-expected results from Millennium Bank last week.