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AUSTRIA |
Best Bank: Bawag | |
Prudent risk management, sustainable growth and outstanding efficiency earn Bawagthis year’s award for Austria’s best bank. Despite the Covid crisis, the listed lender, which also has banking operations in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, managed to post a net profit of €284 million and a return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) of 10% last year despite conservative provisioning. The retail and small and medium-sized enterprise segments were key drivers of the group’s impressive results, delivering a pre-tax profit of €374 million and an ROTCE of 22%.
A continued focus on efficiency limited the group’s cost-to-income ratio to 44.4% even in last year’s adverse market conditions. The merger of Bawag’s Austrian easybank subsidiary and German Südwestbank with the parent group, including the centralization of back-office functions, set the stage for further efficiency gains this year.
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