In Q1 2013, BRE Bank Group made a profit of PLN 323.9 million, which represents an increase by 18.8 percent compared to Q4 2012 and only a 2 percent decrease year on year.The first three months of the year were marked by intensive acquisition - the number of individual clients surged by 93.5 thousand, while the number of corporate clients rose by 201. This shows that the strategy of the Bank, consisting in developing the best transaction bank for the client produces notable effects. BRE Bank is able to acquire new clients because it offers them above all the best quality products, and not deposits at a high interest. BRE Bank was named the Best Bank in Poland in the annual Best Emerging Market Banks in Central and Eastern Europe contest organised by Global Finance magazine.In Q1 2013, BRE Bank reported an income of PLN 829 million, which was broadly similar to the Q4 2012 figure. Net interest and commission income fell by 7 percent to PLN 701 million over the quarter and by nearly 8 percent compared to Q1 2012. This was driven mainly by interest rate cuts introduced by the Monetary Policy Council. The efforts towards effective cost management produced tangible results: the Bank's costs decreased by 7.5 percent quarter on quarter, thus pushing the cost to income ratio down to 48.4 percent. Additionally, BRE Bank's performance was positively influenced by conservative approach to risk management. In Q1 2013, the corporate banking area released provisions amounting in total to PLN 23.4 million, thereby decreasing the Bank's result by only PLN 27.7 million, which marks a genuine improvement compared to the PLN 89 million impact on income statement reported in Q4 2012.The Bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.9 percent at the end of Q1 2013, while Core Tier 1 ratio accounted for 13.5 percent. Compared to Q4 2012, the return on equity fell by 1.1 percentage point to 16.8 percent.  In addition, in May this year, BRE Bank will pay out the first dividend in over a decade, therefore emphasizing its strong position in terms of profitability and capitalisation.Retail bankingIn Q1 2013, the Retail Banking segment generated a profit before income tax of PLN 205.6 million, which represents an increase by PLN 39.5 million or 23.8 percent quarter on quarter. Over the quarter, the retail arm of BRE Bank acquired 93.5 thousand new clients. At the same time, BRE Bank received a number of awards: MultiBank won the "Service Quality" contest for the fifth time, mBank was awarded for the best Internet site by Banking Magazine, while BRE Private Banking was named the best in Poland by Euromoney Magazine for the sixth time. Moreover, the new mBank electronic banking service, including the first European discount platform (mKOAZJE) where merchants finance discounts for clients, was presented at the prestigious conference Finovate Europe. The presentation was considered one of the best in London and new mBank was awarded the Best of Show title.Corporate bankingIn the first three months of 2013, Corporates and Institutions generated a profit before income tax of PLN 206.2 million, an increase by PLN 54.8 million or 36.2 percent quarter on quarter. The rise was driven by an increase in net income (+4.9 percent quarter on quarter) combined with cost reduction (-5.2 percent) and partial release of provisions.In March 2013, BRE was one of the first banks to sign an agreement on Portfolio Guarantee Line de minimis with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK). The agreement was signed within the framework of the government programme "Supporting Entrepreneurship through BGK Sureties and Guarantees" financing guarantees for the repayment of working capital loans assumed by micro-enterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. The limit of guarantees assigned to BRE Bank by BGK amounts to PLN 900 million, which allows BRE to grant about 1.5 billion of working capital loans backed by guarantees. The BGK credit guarantees were offered to the corporate clients of BRE Bank at the beginning of April. The offer is also available to retail clients.