Poland's Alior Bank first-quarter net profit drops 21%, misses estimates
25/04/2025 06:25
GDANSK, April 25 (Reuters) - Poland's Alior Bank ALRR.WA reported a 21% drop in its first-quarter net profit to 476.3 million zlotys ($126.29 million) on Friday. That was below market expectations of 505 million zlotys, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Alior Bank is one of the two banks partially owned by PZU PZU.WA, Poland's largest state-run insurer. In December, PZU announced its 2025-2027 strategy, which involves evaluating the potential sale of its stake in Alior Bank to Pekao, as part of its efforts to streamline the corporate structure. By March, PZU indicated it would decide on the future of its banking assets at the beginning of the third quarter. OUTLOOK Alior Bank announced its new strategy for the years 2025-2027 in March, aiming to achieve a return on equity (ROE) of over 18% by the end of 2027. The bank also revealed plans to distribute dividends exceeding 50% of its net income. Alior aims to achieve a net profit of 2.6 billion zlotys in 2027, up from the 2.45 billion zlotys reported in 2024. BY THE NUMBERS Alior reported net interest income at 1.28 billion zlotys in the first quarter ended March 31, in line with estimates, while net fee and commission income reached 209.3 million zlotys. Credit losses stood at 119.9 million zlotys. By the end of 2024, the bank achieved return on equity of 23.9%, surpassing its goal of more than 13%. ($1 = 3.7716 zlotys) (Reporting by Julia Kotowska; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((julia.kotowska@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 31;))