Italian groups get Poľnobanka stock

Almost six percent of Poľnobanka's stock was recently acquired by the Italian financial groups Unicredito and Finest. The aim behind the stock sale was to enable Poľnobanka to enter the Italian banking market. Other current shareholders in Poľnobanka are Slovenská poisťovňa (Slovak Insurance) with 31.9 percent, the EBRD with 20 percent and the Ministry of Agriculture with 8.6 percent. Poľnobanka increased its equity capital by 56 percent from 800 million to 1.25 billion Sk at the end of June. This increased the bank's primary sources by 47 percent, and its total assets grew to 26.5 billion Sk. Poľnobanka is now ranked third among Slovak commercial banks.