Pekao lender opts for organic growth, wants to change loan portfolio structure

"We want to return to growth, to increase our market share. We want to grow in key products and segments, to improve customer interaction with the bank, operational effectiveness and efficiency, which will be strongly reinforced by the availability of technology and a change in the culture of the organisation," the CEO said.

"Our scenario for the next 2-3 years is one of organic growth. I believe there is more value in consolidating a bank around measurable objectives than some acquisition," he added.

CEO Stypulkowski pointed out that Pekao has no plans to open branches abroad.

The bank said in its strategy that it is focusing on growth in key segments and products to improve results and market share. The CEO said he would maximise synergies with the PZU group.

"(...) both in the sales area and in the cost area. We will try - given the scale of both operations - to make the most of this relationship," Stypulkowski said.

Pekao has assumed that gross attributable premium from insurance sales will reach PLN 1 billion (EUR 233.6 mln) in 2027.

The bank wants to create a strong line of standalone insurance available outside of its bank products and assumes a fivefold increase in premiums here.

Pekao also plans to create a so-called AI Competence Centre to accelerate the implementation of new technologies across the group.

The number of AI solutions in the bank is set to more than double, with 80 percent of employees expected to be using AI by 2027.

Pekao's deputy CEO Dagmara Wojnar said that material and administrative costs would increase, while personnel costs were to be 'kept under control'.

Pekao Bank said on Monday that, according to its new strategy, the ROE ratio is to be above 18 percent by 2027, the cost/income ratio below 35 percent and the cost of risk will be in the range of 65-75 basis points.

In the directional profit distribution proposals, Pekao wants to allocate 50-75 percent of profit generated in 2025, 2026 and 2027 to dividends.

Bank Pekao assumes an average annual growth in its loan portfolio of 6-8 percent and plans to change its structure towards high-margin products, which is expected to have a positive impact on the interest margin and partially neutralise the impact of lower interest rates.

In turn, growth in commission income is to be supported by credit growth in strategic areas and above-market products, insurance product penetration and cross-sell.

The bank said that by 2027, the share of cash loans, micro, small and medium-sized business loans in the loan portfolio will increase to around 38 percent from 34 percent in 2024, and residential and corporate loans will decrease to around 62 percent from 66 percent.

Wojnar reported that in the strategy horizon, the bank plans to issue under the MREL requirement of around EUR 2 billion and does not rule out securitisation tranches.

Pekao has assumed that Poland's central bank NBP's reference rate will fall to 3.5 percent at the end of 2027 from 3.75 percent in 2026.

seb/ han/ ao/