Banco Ciudad profits reach US$19mn

Argentine bank Banco Ciudad turned profits of 56.6mn pesos (US$18.9mn) in the first half of this year compared to 35.2mn-peso losses experienced during the same half last year, local press reported. The bank's total loans grew 16.2% from end-2003 to 816mn pesos by the end of July. "The rise that we saw is far from satisfactory, but is certainly encouraging," bank head Eduardo Hecker said. Banco Ciudad saw the most growth in loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises, which grew 47.4% to 24.6mn pesos during the first seven months of the year. Banco Ciudad is controlled by the Buenos Aires city government.