(Repeats story published on Feb 15)
* Q4 earnings due Thursday, Feb. 18 at 0730 GMT
* Net profit seen down 25 pct at 2.48 billion crowns
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech lender Komercni Banka's <>
fourth-quarter net profit is expected to have fallen amid lower
market activity, with the cost of risk in the loan portfolio
remaining stable, a Reuters poll found.
Twelve analysts gave an average estimate for quarterly net
profit at 2.48 billion crowns, down 25 percent from 3.29 billion
a year ago.
In the last quarter of 2008 Komercni, 60 percent owned by
France's Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, booked extraordinary gains
of 561 million crowns for selling a stake in the Prague bourse
and its investment arm IKS.
Adjusted for the one-offs, the poll expects year-on-year
profit to drop 9 percent.
While the bank continued to struggle with fallout from the
economic downturn, slowing its lending and trading activity, it
saw provisions stabilise after a jump in bad loans over the
previous quarters, analysts said.
Median estimate for the cost of risk stood at 1.32 billion
crowns, flat compared to the previous quarter, and down one
percent from a year ago, when Komercni created provisions
against loans to bankrupt energy trader Moravia Energo.
"They have seen a drop in interest income, as their lending
slowed, and there was generally lower activity in the market,
which has influenced transaction fees and an activity from
clients overall," said Milan Lavicka, analyst at Atlantik FT
brokerage.
"(The cost of risk) has stabilised, at relatively higher
levels, but its not growing further."
Komercni Chief Executive Henri Bonnet told Reuters in
December that the cost of risk was stabilising on the corporate
side, and despite a further increase in the consumer segment, he
expected the bank could write back some provisions later this
year.
Together with the quarterly results, investors will also
watch for a dividend proposal, to see whether the relatively
strongly capitalised bank maintains the payment at last year's
180 crowns per share.
Following is a summary of analysts' estimates for the fourth
quarter of 2009 (figures in billions of crowns):
Q4/09 Average Median Range Q4/08
Net interest income 5.56 5.53 5.42 - 5.75 5.68
Net fees 1.94 1.93 1.91 - 1.97 2.00
Total banking revenue 8.22 8.22 7.90 - 8.36 9.27
Operating profit 4.49 4.48 4.24 - 4.83 5.42
Cost of risk (1.32) (1.35) (1.10)-(1.42) (1.33)
Net profit 2.48 2.44 2.30 - 2.78 3.29
The following banks and brokerages took part in the poll:
Atlantik FT, BH Securities, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Cyrrus,
Erste Bank/Ceska Sporitelna, Fio, ING Wholesale Banking, KBC
Securities/Patria Finance, Raiffeisenbank, UniCredit Global
Research, Wood & Company.
Note: Estimates for banking revenue were provided by 11
analysts, net interest income, fees and total banking revenue by
10 and operating profit by nine analysts.
(Reporting by Jan Korselt; editing by John Stonestreet)
