Erste Group posts 18.6% profit increase in first half

Erste Group has achieved significant growth in the first half of the year, reporting a net profit of nearly 2.0 billion euros, an 18.6% increase compared to the previous period. This substantial rise is largely attributed to the successful integration of its new Polish business, which is being consolidated into the bank's balance sheet for the first time this year.

The bank's lending business is booming, with customer loans increasing by 21.9% to 282.7 billion euros, including the Polish operations. Even without the Polish segment, Erste Group saw a healthy 4.0% growth in customer loans. "The consolidation of our new Polish subsidiary has positively impacted the reported figures as expected. Simultaneously, we have experienced strong growth in our core business in our established markets," stated Stefan Dörfler, CFO of Erste Group.

Demand for loans was particularly high in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, and Austria. In the retail customer segment, 60,000 new housing loans were issued across subsidiaries (excluding Poland). The corporate customer segment saw new business volume exceeding 4 billion euros. Customer deposits also grew by 4.5% (excluding Poland), reaching 323.7 billion euros including Erste Bank Polska, a total increase of 27.9%.

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The consolidation of our new Polish subsidiary has positively impacted the reported figures as expected. Simultaneously, we have experienced strong growth in our core business in our established markets.

Despite the positive financial results, risk costs rose significantly from 182 million euros to 583 million euros. This increase was primarily due to anticipated one-off effects from the integration of Erste Bank Polska, amounting to 302 million euros, with an additional 60 million euros related to the existing loan portfolio in Poland. However, the bank maintains that credit quality remains robust, with the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio slightly decreasing to 2.3% from 2.4% in December 2025.

Operational costs also increased by 30.7% to 3.5 billion euros, driven by personnel expenses and foreign currency effects. Nevertheless, the cost-income ratio (CIR) improved from 47.7% to 44.4%. In light of these results, Erste Group has raised its financial outlook for both its Polish and non-Polish operations. "The strong growth of our loan portfolio in the past six months has already brought us close to our original loan volume target of 285 billion euros. Therefore, we are now increasing this to 290 billion euros," said CEO Peter Bosek.

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The strong growth of our loan portfolio in the past six months has already brought us close to our original loan volume target of 285 billion euros. Therefore, we are now increasing this to 290 billion euros.