BRE Bank Group generated a pre-tax profit of over PLN 330 million in Q1 2012. The steady growth in income combined with a strict cost discipline ensured better effectiveness. The cost/income ratio decreased to 42.8 per cent while ROE net stabilised at 16.3 per cent.The income of BRE Bank Group increased by nearly 3 per cent in Q1 and stood at PLN 916.3 million. A minor decrease in net interest income (-5.3 per cent QoQ) mainly due to the appreciation of the zloty was offset by a much more dynamic growth in net fee and commission income (+8.4 per cent).Once again our prudent risk management policy proved successful in reducing risk costs, which fell from 72 bps last year to 67 bps. The capital ratios remained strong and safe. CAR (capital adequacy ratio) was 16.94 per cent (14.95 per cent at 2011 year-end) and Core Tier I was 11.62 per cent (9.59 per cent after Q4 2011).The pre-tax profit of the Corporates and Financial Markets segment reached PLN 179 million in Q1 2012, which represents a rise by more than 45 per cent. The Corporates and Institutions business line reported a pre-tax profit of more than PLN 121 million, which is by PLN 37 million more compared to Q4 2011. The first three months of 2012 were marked by active client acquisition: BRE acquired 437 corporate clients, and consequently the corporate client base hit another record high of 14.4 thousand companies.The contribution of Retail Banking to the total pre-tax profit of BRE Bank Group, which amounted to PLN 227.3 million, accounted for more than 55 per cent in Q1 2012, which is similar to the result reported in Q4 2011. From January to March 2012 the two brands mBank and MultiBank acquired 55 thousand new clients, approaching the mark of 4 million clients (currently 3.95 million clients).Read more about BRE Bank’s financial results