Profits up significantly at AIB's Polish arm

AIB's Polish operation, Bank Zachodni WBK, has reported a 56 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the first nine months of the…

AIB's Polish operation, Bank Zachodni WBK, has reported a 56 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the first nine months of the year.

The bank announced pretax profits to €216.1 million (827 million zlotys) on the back of a 21 per cent rise in loans and a 12 per cent increase in deposits.

A statement Bank Zachodni says it had seen "spectacular growth" in investment funds. As a result the bank said it was raising its outlook for the full year. "There's a good chance we will be higher than 400 million zlotys (€104 million)," chief executive Mr Jacek Ksen said.

WBK had previously indicated it would earn about 375 million zlotys. The bank has seen a 30 per cent rise in mortgage loans and a 70 per cent increase in cash loans. Bank Zachodni has 400 branches.