Lithuania's Parex bank reported an unaudited net profit of 1.085 million litas for the first half of this year

Lithuania's Parex bank , controlled by the Latvian bank Parex, reported an unaudited net profit of 1.085 million litas (EUR 0.314 mln)for the first half of this year versus a loss of 3.487 million litas in the same period last year. "The bank has achieved good results because it has been actively engaged in attracting new customers and has been pursuing a sound credit and investment policy. Moreover, repayment of loans that had been written off brought in some additional revenues," Raimondas Kutra, deputy chairman of the bank's board and commercial service director, told BNS. According to the data provided by the Bank of Lithuania, Parex suffered a loss of 0.1 million litas in the first quarter of this year, while the bank's annual 2001 loss came to 7.1 million litas. The bank's managers said earlier they were anticipating to break even or earn a profit not exceeding 100,000 litas this year. Parex's assets rose by 39 percent to 296 million litas in the six months, its loan portfolio grew by 35 percent to 101 million litas and its deposits increased by 1.5 times to 162 million litas. (EUR 1 = LTL 3.45)