Fact Sheet - Erste Group

Fact Sheet
July 2015
Profile
Founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank, Erste Group went public in 1997
with a strategy to expand its retail business into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
Since then Erste Group has grown through numerous acquisitions and organic
growth to one of the largest financial services providers in the Eastern part of EU in
terms of clients and total assets:
The number of customers has increased from 600,000 to approx. 16.2 million in
Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia.
Erste Group's key business is the retail business, covering the entire spectrum
from lending, deposit and investment products to current accounts and credit
cards.
Besides the traditional strength in serving private individuals, Erste Group's core
activities include advisory services and support for corporate clients in financing,
investment and access to international capital markets, public sector funding and
interbank market operations.
Products & Services
Focus on CEE, limited exposure to other Europe
Retail banking
Corporate banking
Capital markets
Public sector
Focus on local
currency mortgage
and consumer loans
funded by local
deposits
Large, local
corporate and SME
banking
Focus on customer
business, incl.
customer-based
trading activities
Financing
sovereigns and
municipalities with
focus on
infrastructure
development in core
markets
FX loans only in EUR
for clients with EUR
income (or equivalent)
and where funded by
local FX deposits
(HR & RS)
Savings products,
asset management
and pension products
Advisory services,
with focus on
providing access to
capital markets and
corporate finance
Real estate business
that goes beyond
financing
Potential future
expansion into
Poland
Potential future
expansion into Poland
Erste Group's presence
In addition to core
markets, presence
in Poland, Turkey,
Germany and London
with institutional client
focus and selected
product mix
Building debt and
equity capital markets
in CEE
Any sovereign
holdings are only
held for marketmaking, liquidity or
balance sheet
management
reasons
16.2mn clients
46,000 employees
2,700 branches in 7 countries
EUR 225.8mn net result
EUR 202.6bn total assets
EUR 14.0bn total equity
EUR 741,0mn operating result
10.5% core tier 1 ratio
(Basel 3; phased-in)
98.9% loan-deposit ratio
Erste Group's business position
One of the leading financial providers
in the eastern part of the EU
Among the TOP 3 banks in our core
markets in CZ, AT, SK, RO, HU and HR
Innovation leader in retail banking
in the home market Austria
Management Board
Customer banking in Central and Eastern Europe
Eastern part of EU
Erste Group in a nutshell
Interbank
business
Focus on banks
that operate in the
core markets
Any bank exposure
is only held for
liquidity or balance
sheet management
reasons or to
support client
business
Andreas Treichl, CEO
Gernot Mittendorfer, CFO und CPO
Andreas Gottschling, CRO
Peter Bosek, Retail banking
Jozef Síkela, Corporate banking
Petr Brávek, COO
Shareholder structure
UNIQA Versicherungsverein Privatstiftung
ERSTE Foundation direct
Lone Pine Capital
Harbor Int.
Fund
4.1%
4.0%
4.1%
10.8%
9.3%
ERSTE Foundation
indirect*
CaixaBank
9.9%
1.0%
Institutional
Investors
47.2%
9.6%
Employees
Retail
Investors
Total number of shares: 429,800,000
Free float: 70.0%
*Includes voting rights of Erste Foundation, savings
banks, savings bank foundations and Wiener Städtische
Wechselseitige Versicherungsverein.
Listings and index representation
Weighting
(31/03/2015)
Listings
Index
Vienna Stock Exchange
Prague Stock Exchange
Bucharest Stock Exchange
ATX
PX
ROTX
18.33%
19.40%
19.32%
Public trading via a level I ADR
programme in the U.S.
MSCI Standard Index
DJ Euro Stoxx Banks Index
FTSEurofirst 300 Index
Ratings
S&P
Fitch
Moody’s
Long-Term
Short-Term
BBB+
BBB+
Baa2
A-2
F2
P-2
Outlook
Negative
Stable
Stable
Fact Sheet
July 2015
Financial results Q1 2015
News and Reports
07.05.2015 – Erste Group makes strong start to 2015
“We had a strong start to 2015 and are showing a solid net profit,
due to a combination of positive developments: the economic
rebound is bringing about a pick-up in lending, while bad loans
costs are declining as expected. On the whole, the CEE region
confirms its strong potential by making a significant contribution
of 61.4% to the Group's operating result”, explained Andreas
Treichl, CEO of Erste Group at the presentation of the financial
results for Q1 2015. “In Austria, Slovakia and the Czech
Republic, our results were driven by volume growth both in retail
and corporate business. The Romanian subsidiary is profitable
again and we see encouraging signs in retail lending, while in
Hungary the completion of the FX loans conversion should clear
the way for a comeback in new business. We are confident that
economic growth in CEE will continue at a steady rate,
increasingly driven by domestic demand, which is good news
for a further uplift in lending”, said Andreas Treichl.
Net customer
loans
+2.2%
120.8 123.4
31/12/14
31/03/15
in EUR bn
Outlook for 2015
Erste Group expects that the operating environment anticipated will be conducive to
credit expansion in most CEE countries. Real GDP growth is expected to be
between 2% and 3% in all major CEE markets, except Croatia, driven by rising
domestic demand. For Austria, a real GDP growth below 1% is forecast. Erste Group
expects a return on tangible equity (ROTE) at 8-10%. Operating result is expected to
decline in the mid-single digits on the back of lower but sustainable operating results
in Hungary and Romania as well as the persistent low interest rate environment. For
2015, loan growth in the low single digits and a significant decline in risk costs are
anticipated.
Macroeconomic outlook for Central and Eastern Europe
After posting 2.7% GDP growth last year, CEE economies are expected to advance
by at least 2.8% in 2015. “Thanks to the positive surprises in 4Q14, the first quarter of
2015 brought even more robust numbers, mainly driven by consumption and
external trade. We predict at least 3.5% growth in Poland, 2.8% in Romania, 2.6% in
the Czech Republic and 2.5% in Hungary”, explains Zoltán Árokszállási, Chief
Analyst of CEE Macro/Fixed Income Research at Erste Group. Growth assumptions
were already upgraded for Slovakia, where growth can be expected at 3% instead of
the formerly assumed 2.5% this year. In Croatia and Serbia, where fiscal challenges
are still to be tackled, the situation is more negative. However, hopes are increasing
that both countries can show a mild growth already this year. “Fortunately, growth in
CEE is not accompanied by large current account deficits; in fact, some CEE
economies actually have a current account surplus. The lower oil price and a clear
uptick in the Eurozone are helping CEE countries. However, such stellar
performance is not expected to withhold the second and third quarters this year, as
oil prices started to increase and sentiment indicators show a slight moderation
across CEE. That being said, growth can remain robust, and we see clear upside
risks to our current call of 2.8% real GDP growth for the CEE region”, concludes
Árokszállási. CEE should exceed the average Eurozone by at least 1.5 percentage
points in 2015 in terms of GDP growth.
Did you know that …
…the number of contactless transactions via Erste Group terminals increased
by 366% in 2014? In total, 117mn contactless transactions were made at Erste´s
terminals across CEE in 2014 compared to 32mn in 2013.
...Austrians and Slovaks are the savings champions in the CEE region?
Austrians save an average of EUR 181 per month, Slovaks put aside EUR 90.
(Erste Group Savings Barometer 2014)
…Coca-Cola is going to invest EUR 3.8 million in the production and storing
capacities in Belgrad? The company will start the most modern plant for the soda
production and storing in Serbia. (Source: Naše Novine)
13.05.2015 – Investments in CEE:
switching into the next gear of growth
Erste Group's recent research study about
investments in CEE shows a turning point in
last year's investment growth. This positive
trend will continue in 2015. Domestic
savings and EU transfers are in the driving
seat of financing investments, with FDIs
becoming less important. “If the positive
economic momentum in CEE is
accompanied by real structural reforms, the
main pillars of CEE growth and convergence
will be domestic investments, a thriving SME
sector and EU funds, which should be fully
utilized”, says Juraj Kotian, Head of CEE & FI
research at Erste Group.
06.05.2015 – Study: Diversity
Management & Corporate Social
Responsibility in ATX companies 2015
A new study conducted by factor-D Diversity
Consulting in cooperation with Erste Group
explored the extent to which diversity
management and CSR are institutionalized
in Austrian stock listed companies. The main
finding: While CSR is firmly embedded in
corporate strategies of more than half of the
ATX companies, diversity management is
by far less institutionalized. Only a small
group of ATX companies are fully
implementing diversity management. For
companies such as Erste, diversity is seen
as a success factor. “As a banking group
which operates in seven countries in Central
and Easter Europe, we want to be as diverse
as our customers. Therefore, diversity is
also important when selecting new
employees”, says Vera Budway-Strobach,
Diversity Manager at Erste Group.
04.05.2015 – George: “The mark of
200,000 users has been surpassed“
Since the new digital banking platform
George has been launched by Erste Bank in
Austria in January 2015, more than 200,000
people have already registered. George is
the first growing banking platform in Austria
that is developed with significant input from
users. “The crucial difference to the way
things were done before is that customers
are leading the way. This is the only manner
in which we can continue to expand our
leading position in digital banking”, says
Peter Bosek, Retail board member at Erste
Group.
09.02.2015 – Government of Hungary and
EBRD join forces to strengthen the
Hungarian financial sector and bolster
economic growth
The Government of Hungary and the
European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) sealed an agreement
aimed at strengthening the country's
financial sector, improving its level of
efficiency and profitability and boosting the
flow of bank credits to Hungary's private
corporations and citizens. “By having both
the Hungarian Government and the EBRD
as our partners we want to clearly
demonstrate, that our Group is committed to
be a strong partner for the creation of wealth
and prosperity for the Hungarian people in
the years to come”, said Andreas Treichl,
CEO Erste Group.
Erste Group, Graben 21, A-1010 Vienna, www.erstegroup.com
Press Department: +43(0)50100 - 19603, [email protected]

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