100% growth

Bank Handlowy posted a net profit of zł.159.4 million in Q2 this year, which marks a growth of almost 100% in comparison with the same period last year. The bank's president Sławomir Sikora said that he also expected the second half of the year to be successful but refused to reveal the prognosis for the whole year. He added that the company has finished a process of consolidation of Bank Handlowy and Citibank and is prepared for economic growth. In Q2 the bank managed to lower costs by 9% mostly due to laying off around 300 staff in Q1 but despite this did not manage to lower the costs-to-income ratio to 50% as it had earlier planned. The ratio for the bank now amounts to 56%. The return on equity is still below 10% which, according the president, is due to the bank's high equity that BH constantly tries to lower by allocating the whole profit for paying out the dividend.