First Investment Bank booked unconsolidated Q4’11 net income of BGN 6.9m down by 5.9% compared to Q4’10. The 5.4% YoY fall in net interest income reflected the heavy inflow of customer deposits in the last quarter of the year – up by 7% versus end-Sept 2011, while at the same time the loan book grew a feeble 1.5%. The dip in NII was, however, to a large extent offset by rise in non-interest income where net fees & commissions advanced a hefty 29% YoY. Hence, Q4’11 TOI stepped back negligibly by 0.4% YoY. Further down the line, operating expenses climbed up 6.5% YoY but provision charges stood 20% lower versus Q4’10 and almost fully neutralized the negative effect from the rise in OPEX. FY 2011 results revealed 18% YoY bottom line improvement ahead of 17% YoY net interest income expansion and 19% YoY growth on the non-interest side, where F&C generation took the lead. The 18% YoY jump in TOI fully compensated the 14% YoY increase in OPEX, as well as the 34% YoY risk costs elevation. Hence, C/I ratio improved to 68% in 2011 from 70% a year ago. NIM slid down by 0.2pp vs. 2010 to 3.3% due to increase of liquid assets share. On the balance sheet, total assets grew a good 23% YoY to reach BGN 6.1bn at 2011 YE, with deposits of customers accumulating to BGN 5.3bn and up 26% YoY. The loan portfolio advanced slower or by 22% for the same period. The main growth driver remained the corporate segment, up by 24% YoY, followed by consumer loans which picked up 5.2% YoY, whilst mortgage loans contracted 4.1% versus end-2010.