Best bank
PKO Bank Polski
Best debt house
JPMorgan
Best equities house
CSFB
Best M&A house
HSBC
Best local partner
EVIP Consulting Group
After a few difficult years, the Polish banking sector seems to have turned the corner. Most banks are now safely back in the black, and several have increased ? even doubled ? their profits since 2002.
The fastest growth continues to be at BPH-PBK, Bank Austria?s excellent Polish subsidiary, where net income doubled from Zl144 million in 2002 to Zl343 million ($91.8 million) in 2003. Bank Pekao has also recovered well, with a return on equity of 13% last year, and profit up by around Zl150 million.
This year, though, PKO Bank Polski wins the best bank award, above all because it has the highest profit and return on equity. Its profit for the first nine months of 2003 was Zl1.4 billion, 12% up on the same period in 2002. It managed to increase its market share in just about every other area ? gross loans were 14% higher, deposits 2% higher ? while its capital adequacy ratio 2% higher and the non-performing loan ratio was 1% lower.