Prospectus - Notowania

analysing the contributions by business segment, as opposed to the positive
performance of CIB and CEE (+91.5% and +15% on operating profit, respectively)
the other business segments recorded a downturn in their profitability due to the
economic difficulties which affected the first few months of 2009. In this area, it is
worth noting the drop in the Retail segment, where operating profit decreased by 27%,
due to a decrease of 13.9% in operating income associated with a contraction of 6.8%
in operating costs; for Asset Management operating profit decreased by 64.1% as a
result of the substantial decrease of 39.6% in the commission component due to the
drop in average assets under management (€61 billion, equal to a drop of 27%).
Net loans to customers as at September 30, 2009, amounting to €565.5 billion,
decreased by 7.7% compared to December 2008. Specifically, the contraction
involved the business segments Retail -6.1% and CIB -8.2%, which were both
affected by the market scenario resulting from the economic crisis which in some
cases required the adoption of a more selective approach in new disbursements.
Customer deposits and securities totalled €590 billion, substantially in line with
December 31, 2008 (-0.2%).
Profit for the year ended as at December 31, 2008 was heavily influenced by the
economic crisis which had a highly substantial impact over the year. At the end of the
year, the Group recorded net profit of €4,012 million, down by 38.3% compared to the
same period of 2007 (with a like-for-like scope of consolidation, meaning including
Capitalia for the entire 12 months of the year) and 32% net of the economic effect of
PPA relating to the merger with Capitalia. Operating profit decreased by 24%, but was
in line with the previous years if the Markets & Investment Banking and Asset
Management business segments are excluded. Profit before tax reported a reduction of
48.1% compared to 2007, on a like-for-like basis, meaning including Capitalia for the
entire twelve months of 2007, partly attributable to the trend in write-downs of loans
and guarantees and commitments, and partly to the impairment of some amounts of
goodwill recorded. With reference to write-downs of loans, the total increase of
€1,232 million (on a like-for-like basis) is particularly linked to the business segments
Markets & Investment Banking (€718 million), Corporate (€510 million) and CEE
(€326 million), partially offset by write-backs attributed to the Parent Company and
other Group companies. As regards goodwill, as at December 31, 2008, as a result of
impairment testing, the Group recorded impairment losses on ATF and JSC
Ukrsotsbank for a total of €750 million. Operating costs for the period in question
amounted to a total of €16,692 million, in line with the figure recorded for the year
ended as at December 31, 2007 (on a like-for-like basis). This result derives from the
combination of actions aimed at increasing organisational efficiency on the one hand
and, on the other, several development initiatives implemented, above all in the CEE
business segment. Staff expenses increased limited to 2.6% in relation to the smaller
variable component of compensation, by virtue of the total results of the Group, which
fell short of the targets.
With regard to December 31, 2008, as described in the Notes to the Financial
Statements, in compliance with the amendments to IAS 39 and IFRS 7 approved by
the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in October 2008, the Group
reclassified some financial assets which met certain conditions, and which were no
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