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Although the end of the property and construction boom made it a worrying year for Irish banks, Allied Irish has managed to turn in decent results and post gains in market share across a number of segments in its home market including business lending, personal lending, residential mortgages and deposit.

While Fortis has been bulking up across the border and in private banking and asset management thanks to some hearty chunks of ABN Amro, KBC has managed reasonable organic growth at home. The bank’s domestic mortgage book grew 10% and it also succeeded in increasing the net interest income of its Belgian retail business by 10% despite a significant shift out of investment funds into deposits.

Deutsche Bank

As part of the decision-making process for the Awards for Excellence, Euromoney journalists conduct numerous interviews with senior bankers who aim to convince us why they should win.

The firm appears to have timed the launch of its upgraded option system to perfection.

The Ukranian economy has been coping well under the pressures of domestic political uncertainty and global financial turmoil. In 2007, GDP grew by 7.3%, while retail sales increased by 28.8%. And Ukrsibbank has continued along its own growth curve. Majority owned by BNP Paribas since April 2006, the bank is the third largest in the Ukraine in terms of assets, shareholders equity and loan portfolio. Although PrivatBank and Raiffeisen Bank Aval are bigger, they cannot match Ukrsibbank’s dynamism.

Icap has confirmed the launch of its web-based version of EBS.

Liquid real estate Issue 06

Despite increasing competition, Raiffeisen banka maintains its top billing in Serbia. On the retail front it boosted its customer base by 20% in 2007 to just short of 500,000, while growing its retail deposit and loan volumes by 32% and 26% respectively. There was a similarly strong performance in the corporate banking segment, with corporate lending rising by 24% to reach almost $1.2 billion, while deposits rose to $830 million. Raiffeisen banka was particularly successful in boosting its business with small and micro-sized enterprises, increasing its client base by 36% and its lending by 47% to reach $312 million. The bank also has a leading market position in the treasury business, accounting for a 19% share of foreign exchange trading for retail customers and 13.68% for banking clients. As a result of all these advances in 2007, the bank boosted its net profit by 60% and its return on equity climbed to 21.4% from 16.6% in 2006.

Kazkommertsbank (KKB) has more than double its assets and Bank TuranAlem (BTA) has a far superior net income but Halyk Bank takes the award for best bank in Kazakhstan thanks to its resilience in the face of global financial troubles. First-quarter net income fell by nearly 10% on the 2007 equivalent because of such issues as growing average rates on customer deposits and higher impairment charges on its loan portfolio, but other Kazakh banks have fared far worse. During the roadshow for Halyk’s successful $500 million benchmark Eurobond in April, the first for a Kazakh bank since July 2007, investors noted its "strong liquidity, low exposure to foreign debt, and its perception as the best bank in Kazakhstan". And there is ample evidence to support that sentiment. Halyk’s branches have reportedly remained busy, while KKB’s and BTA’s are much quieter. Credit lines have been shortened and cut at rival banks that have liquidity problems, which has pushed more business Halyk’s way. Between July and December last year, Halyk’s share of the domestic retail market grew from 19% to 21%, overtaking both KKB and BTA, which both lost market share over the same period. In the fourth quarter last year, Halyk’s deposits rose by 21.4%; KKB’s grew just 8.8%, and BTA’s grew not at all.

Highly populated Rwanda is an attractive environment for banks, particularly as the ethnic problems are beginning to recede. Banque Commerciale de Rwanda is the most innovative bank in the country, expanding its network and growing its products. "This has been a good year," says David Kuwana, managing director of Banque Commerciale de Rwanda. "We have opened two new branches, developed a mortgage product, and have grown our Western Union network."

Danske Bank remains the dominant player of the Danish banking market, with almost one-third of the banking market and assets many times larger than its nearest rival. While others, such as second-placed Nordea and Jyske Bank may be growing more rapidly – Jyske Bank increased its core earnings by 14% in 2007 – Danske is no slouch either. Its assets grew around 14% in 2007 and shareholders have enjoyed a compound five-year growth rate in total equity of 11.86% – impressive for a bank that totally dominates its market – while return on equity is still a respectable 15.1%.