BRE Bank has announced the sale of a further 5.41% stake in Novitus for PLN 4.35m. The book value of the stake sold was some PLN 1.05m, implying a pre-tax gain of PLN 3.3m, which should be booked in 4Q06. After the transaction, BRE Bank still holds 4.59% stake in the company.
Our view: BRE Bank is continuing its policy of selling non-core assets, which is boosting profits via one-off gains. BRE Bank sold 14.99% stake in Novitus earlier this year, booking a pre-tax profit of PLN 8.4m in 2Q06. Due to the limited size of the announced transaction, we do not expect any trading impact on the stock.