OREANDA-NEWS. On 06 August 2008 was announced, that the operating profits of the Kredyt Bank Group in the first half of this year amounted to PLN 757.3 million.

Net earnings amounted to PLN 144.8 million. The Bank’s sales of loans to individual clients, particularly in the field of mortgage and consumer loans, were high.

The Group’s earnings before tax in the first half of 2008 amounted to PLN 187.6 million, while the corresponding figure in the same period in 2007 was PLN 230.9 million. Net earnings during the same period amounted to PLN 144.8 million (PLN 181.6 million in the first half of 2007).

The Group’s net operating profits increased by 16.6% in comparison to the first half of 2007.

In all operating product categories (with the exception of fees and commissions) sales grew in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period of the previous year as a result of the increasing business activity.

Lower before-tax and after-tax earnings in the first half of 2008 as compared to the first half of 2007 were largely caused by financial and other asset value impairment and write-offs.

Interest earnings amounted to PLN 493.3 million in the first half of 2008. This means that they were higher by over 21% than in the first half of 2007. The increase was largely due to the increased value of the credit portfolio.

Income from fees and commissions amounted to PLN 143.6 million but declined by 3.9% against the corresponding period of the previous year. The decrease was mainly due to a fall by nearly PLN 13 million of revenues from commission on sales of investment and insurance products.

Gross receivables from clients at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2008 were higher by 5.7% than at the end of the 1st quarter of 2008 and by 38.7% than at the end of the first half of 2007.

The portfolio of loans to individual clients (primarily mortgage loans) increased sharply. In the 2nd quarter of 2008, Kredyt Bank made 11.7 million such loans with a total value of PLN 1.7 billion. The total gross value of the mortgage loan portfolio increased by 14.6% in comparison to the 1st quarter of 2008 and by 80.0% in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Retail loan sales through the Żagiel distribution network amounted to PLN 813 million in the 2nd quarter of 2008 (25% higher than in the 1st quarter). The gross portfolio value increased by 23.2% in comparison to the 1st quarter of 2008 and by 72.7% in comparison to the 2nd quarter of 2007.

In the 2nd quarter of 2008, the quality of the Group’s receivables portfolio improved by 0.6 pp; the improvement over the last 12 months amounted to 5.1 pp.

Deposits at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2008 were 4% higher than at the end of the 1st quarter and 12.8% higher than at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2007.

At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2008, the number of savings accounts was 6% higher than at the end of the 1st quarter of 2008 and 24% higher than at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2007. The total value of deposited savings at the end of June 2008 amounted to PLN 5.7 billion, which means 2.9% more than at the end of March 2008 and 26.5% more than at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2007.

The number of credit cards at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2008 increased by 22.7% since the end of the 1st quarter and by 105.1% since the end of the 2nd quarter of 2007.

The number of users of electronic distribution channels has been consistently growing. At the end of June 2008, 306,000 customers used KB24, which is a 21.4% increase since June 2007. The number of bank transfers ordered through KB24 in the 2nd quarter of 2008 increased by 27% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.