To our Shareholders

Letter from the CEO

@ Daniela Beranek

Dear shareholders,

The 2023 fiscal year was again a very successful one for Erste Group. With a net profit of EUR 2,998 million, we posted an excellent result. Dynamic growth of our key income components – net interest income and net fee and commission income – more than offset the inflation-induced rise in costs and resulted in a significant improvement in the cost/income ratio. Major contributions to this development came from the growth in customer loans – up a notable 3.7% in the retail business and 5.6% in the corporate business – as well as from the normalisation of the interest rate environment: after years of negative interest rates, the ECB finally raised its rates to combat inflation. Continued solid asset quality and low risk costs also contributed to Erste Group’s profitability. This resulted in a further strong improvement in capitalisation: at year-end, the common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 15.7%. Overall, we significantly exceeded almost all financial goals we had set ourselves at the beginning of 2023.

Willi Cernko mp