Česká spořitelna announces 30 percent leap in profits in 2008

The country’s biggest bank in terms of client numbers, Česká spořitelna, said on Friday that it had raised net profits by an annual 30.2 percent to 15.81 billion crowns (around 712 million USD) in 2008. The profit was generated by the sale of the bank’s insurance unit in particular, a spokesperson said. Česká spořitelna, which is owned by Austria’s Erste Bank, has over 5.3 million clients and almost 11,000 employees. Erste Bank, meanwhile, said on Friday its bottom-line profit fell by 26.8 percent in 2008.