Rio,12/5/2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) – Between January and September of this year, the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) (BNDES) had net profits of R$624.8 million (US$169.5 million), up 12.4% over the same period last year. That works out to a return on net assets of 6.7%.

BNDES assets in 2002 rose to R$147 billion (US$39.8 billion), up 28.2% over 2001. The bank's investment portfolio value rose to R$125.7 billion (US$34.1 billion) this year, up 35.1% over 2001. (AB)