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| Awards for Excellence 2012 Regional Awards for Excellence 2012: Western Europe All regions and countries |
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| Western Europe winners by country Austria Belgium France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain Switzerland United Kingdom |
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Best Bank: Bank Austria |
| Mounting losses related to bad loans and exposure to Greece have afflicted Austrian banks as much as those elsewhere, leading in some instances to the government nationalizing those banks deemed most vulnerable. While the threat of further nationalizations still looms large, Austria’s main banks have redoubled their efforts in the past year to strengthen their capital positions and improve the underlying performance of their core businesses. Most of the main banks in the country can claim to have achieved these objectives, but the one bank to have arguably had the best results is Bank Austria, a subsidiary of UniCredit. In 2011, the bank’s operating performance was sound, with a net profit of €209 million for the year despite absorbing a series of exceptional charges, such as a €396 million write-down on Greek government bonds and impairment losses on goodwill related to its banking subsidiaries in Kazakhstan (€350 million) and Ukraine (€329 million). | |