Peter Bosek’s return to Erste Group as CEO, although still in its early days, has already made an impact.
Much happened in the three years he was away – Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, and the rise of inflation. After he took up the role on July 1, 2024, he began by meeting the bank’s leadership, including country CEOs across the Central and Eastern European region. He recommitted to the group’s core principles: supporting regional prosperity through retail and corporate banking, with a sticky funding base and diverse revenue streams, in Austria and the eastern portion of the EU.
As Bosek points out while speaking to Euromoney, Central and Eastern Europe remains the highest growing region in Europe. Expanding the Erste brand, and growing its business, is a core tenet of the strategy. And – not least due to its strong capital position – assessing, negotiating and potentially executing on M&A opportunities was always going to be a big theme of his early period as CEO. Here, Poland loomed large, as it has until now been by far the biggest missing piece in the firm’s regional network.
With an agreement to buy a 49% controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska for €7 billion in cash, announced this May, it has found a willing seller of one of the best banks in Poland.
“I came back to a bank that was in an excellent state of health,” Bosek says. “We have an extremely strong capital position, which this year helped us fund our planned acquisition without a capital increase. We are profitable, and we have a rock-solid asset quality.”
Erste has indeed performed exceptionally well in recent years, and in 2024 the good results continued, with pre-tax profit rising to €5 billion, return on equity at 16.3%, cost/income below 50%, and CET1 at 15.7%.
It notched up some important market share gains in countries like Croatia and Slovakia, as well as in regional wholesale banking, where it played a central role in renewables financing. It also signed an agreement with Germany’s Baader Bank, focusing on equity capital markets, and institutional research and distribution.
Under Bosek’s leadership, the bank’s combination of financial strength, tech advancement and strategic acquisitions has delivered a standout 2024 performance
Digitally, the bank is also in a strong position, notably thanks to its George platform – something Bosek put in place during his previous tenure at Erste when he led the retail franchise. George continues to develop, with the launch of George Junior in Hungary in December 2024, and preparations for Serbia to be the last country to adopt the platform. In 2024, nearly 60% of Erste product sales were concluded digitally. In Slovakia, for example, 70% of deposit accounts were opened through George.
In addition to using technology to further boost efficiency, Bosek now sees greater scope to widen access to the bank’s capabilities in terms of advice and financial health through innovative means. This is especially important as products like mortgages become increasingly commoditised.
“When you drill down to it, retail banking is about helping clients manage liquidity over their lifetime,” he says. “Our advice should help you make the most of your financial position. I’m a strong believer that digitalisation gives us the opportunity to give digital advice to all our clients, such as helping them to set appropriate savings goals, alongside their day-to-day banking needs: and not just when we speak to people in the branch or by phone for a mortgage, for example. AI is a huge opportunity in that regard.”
Meanwhile, Bosek also points to scope for growth in asset management, due to an ageing population, and real-wage growth. Erste Asset Management is already a leading player in the region, with €92 billion in assets under management at end-2024.
Strategic initiatives in the second half of 2024 included announcements of the acquisitions of Impact Asset Management in September and parts of Croatia’s InterCapital Asset Management in December.
Under Bosek’s leadership, the bank’s combination of financial strength, tech advancement and strategic acquisitions has delivered a standout 2024 performance, enabling it to maintain its leading position while delivering enhanced value to clients across the region.
