On Sept. 6, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its public information ('pi') ratings on Poland-based BRE Bank S.A. (BRE) and Bank Millennium Capital Group (Bank Millennium) to "BBBpi" from "BBpi". The upgrade reflects the banks' strengthening financial and business profiles in 2005 and the first half of 2006, as well as increased strategic importance for, and integration with, their foreign bank owners. BRE's financial performance, in particular profitability and asset quality, is on an improving trend. In the first half of 2006, ROA reached 1.1%, while asset quality benefited from a reduction in NPLs to a more manageable 6.1% of lending. In addition, a significant reduction in the high-risk investment portfolio has boosted the quality of assets. BRE
