Poland's Bank Millennium tops Q2 profit expectations
Poland's Bank Millennium tops Q2 profit expectations July 28 (Reuters) - Polish lender Bank Millennium MILP.WA reported a 23% rise in its quarterly net profit on Tuesday, topping market expectations, as lower provisions for Swiss-franc mortgages offset a hit from lower interest rates, higher taxes, and funds set aside for legal risks tied to consumer credit.
The Polish arm of Portugal's Millennium bcp BCP.LS posted a profit of 407.6 million zlotys ($107.2 million) for the second quarter, compared with a median estimate of 398 million zlotys from analysts polled by Reuters.
Polish banks are looking for stronger lending and fee income to support their earnings this year, as lower interest rates and higher taxes put a damper on the booming profit growth that made the sector one of the stronger performers on European stock markets.
Net fee and commission income was 207.2 million zlotys, up 10% year-on-year, compared with consensus of 208 million zlotys
Net interest income was 1.39 billion zlotys, versus 1.45 billion zlotys a year ago; analysts had forecast a drop to 1.40 billion zlotys
Legal risk provisions tied to Millennium's legacy Swiss-franc mortgages fell nearly 70% from a year ago to 179.9 million zlotys
Provisions related to consumer credit were 61 million zlotys, after an EU court barred lenders from charging interest on loan costs in April
($1 = 3.8035 zlotys)
(Reporting by Rafal Nowak in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
((RafalWojciech.Nowak@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 66 63;))
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