Erste wants to focus on Satander BP lender integration with group and organic growth

"Santander is the third largest bank in Poland and our strategy has always been to be in the top three in a given country. (...) We haven't had a better opportunity to enter the Polish market before - with the Treasury maintaining its position in the two largest Polish banks. (...)," Erste's CEO told the conference.

"For us it is obvious that the next 2-3 years will be the time of Santander's integration, because it is a big acquisition, so we will probably not look for other opportunities in this market. We believe in organic growth and that there is potential for strong growth in Poland," he added.

The CEO stressed that the structure of the transaction is different from Erste's previous transactions as Santander BP is a private lender, listed on the stock exchange, and it is not a matter of restructuring.

"(...) For us it also means entering a big market and rebranding. We need to understand the Polish market and what we can do in it, because Santander is already successful and Erste is not so well-known in Poland. So rebranding will be an important issue," he added.

Bosek said that there are currently no plans to make changes to Santander Bank Polska's management board once the transaction is finalised.

"The board is doing a good job, so we don't see the need for change," he assessed.

At the beginning of May, Erste Group signed an agreement to acquire a 49 percent stake in Santander Bank Polska and 50 percent of shares in its mutual funds unit, Santander TFI, for a total of EUR 7 billion.

According to Bosek, Erste is working on obtaining the required approvals and hopes to finalise the transaction by the end of the year.

The completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals, including in particular from Poland's financial watchdog KNF and antitrust approval from the European Commission.

Erste previously reported that, following the transaction, it is expected that Santander Bank Polska will have more than EUR 37 billion in net loans, over EUR 50 billion in customer deposits, around EUR 67 billion in assets based on pro forma figures as of December 2024.

Santander Bank Polska is the third largest bank in Poland in terms of assets. Santander TFI is the asset management company with EUR 6 billion of assets under management as of December 2024.

Erste said that by buying Santander, it will increase its total customer base by around 36 percent to around 23 million customers and its customer base in the CEE region by around 50 percent.

As the CEO assessed, any investment of this magnitude comes with potential risks.

"In order to mitigate these risks, we need to maintain the strong capital position we have built," he stressed.

Peter Bosek was also asked about the possibility of a dual listing of the bank in the future, but confirmed that it was too early to make such decisions. Santander BP will remain listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

"It is too early to talk about a potential dual listing. We appreciate the importance of the WSE in Europe. (...) It is too early to assess the possibility of a dual listing," he told the conference.

doa/ ao/