Komercni Q1 net profit up on lending boom

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Komercni Banka (BKOMsp.PR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the only listed Czech bank, booked a 16.6 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for loans in the fast-growing economy.

Earnings attributable to the bank's shareholders were 3.02 billion crowns ($546.8 million), slightly above the average forecast of 2.99 billion in a Reuters poll of nine analysts.

Shares in Komercni fell 3.01 percent to 4,221 crowns by 0845 GMT, underperforming a 0.09 percent rise in the Prague stock exchange's blue-chip PX index .

"There was speculation that the results could be much better, which pushed shares up over the past week," said Milan Lavicka, analyst at Atlantik FT. "Now there is profit taking on the stock as results were only in line with expectations."

Komercni, 60.35 percent owned by France's Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), saw growth in all of its main activities, while its client base and business volumes continued to expand, it said.

Total lending jumped 23.8 percent to 328.5 billion crowns.

The bank's portfolio of mortgages to individuals rose 3.9 percent since the beginning of the year, in line with market developments, as demand cooled after years of growth.

Revenue rose 12.5 percent to 7.85 billion crowns in January-March, compared with the market forecast of 7.74 billion. Net interest income increased 16.5 percent to 5.07 billion, compared with a forecast of 5.03 billion.

(Reporting by Martin Dokoupil)