"I assume that we can significantly improve our 2011 net profit relative to the prior year," Cezary Stypulkowski told Boersen Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday, without giving details. Stypulkowski had said in November that BRE's net profit would likely surpass 1 billion zlotys ($283 million), after the lender posted net profit of 642 million zlotys in 2010. The chief executive declined to give a specific forecast for earnings in 2012, saying prospects depended on the development of the Polish economy. "I continue to believe that 2012 will be a good year for BRE Bank, Stypulkowski told the paper. Commerzbank, which holds a 70 percent stake in BRE Bank, sees Poland as a core market and has vowed to continue lending there even as it retrenches in other areas, slashing risk-weighted assets to meet tough new regulatory capital requirements.