CEE rankings 2005: Banks fly high in emerging EuropeEmerging Europe results tables
CZECH, ESTONIAN, POLISH and Hungarian companies performed strongly across several industry sectors and other categories in Euromoney's first annual central and eastern European companies poll. Hungarian bank OTP convincingly topped the overall poll, with other banks – Estonia's Hansabank, and Poland's Bank BPH – and Czech utility CEZ all in the top five.
According to Wlodek Giller at Deutsche Bank in Poland, Hansabank's impressive showing in the poll and outstanding results may be attributed to an "excellent management with a clear strategy upon which they constantly and effectively deliver".
Some of the biggest winners in the poll are Polish banks. Analysts say that it was the best year ever for Polish banking and GNP growth is expected to come in at more than 5% in 2005. With no cut in interest rates expected, the positive outlook appears likely to continue.
This was reflected in the performances of some of the biggest Polish banks. Pekao, PKO and Bank BPH were all cited by the analysts that Euromoney contacted. All three reported significant growth in their return on equity over the past year, by four to five percentage points to 17% to 18%.