Awards for Excellence 2009: Poland

Bank Pekao maintained its strong position in the Polish banking markets where it serves about 4 million retail customers and half of all big Polish corporates. Despite the challenge of integrating 285 branches and 2.3 million customers from part of Bank BPH in the first half of 2008, Bank Pekao continued to put in a strong financial performance in the face of a deteriorating economic environment. It maintained a sound balance sheet and strong liquidity, with a loan-to-deposit ratio of 90.8%, well below the Polish banking sector average of 111.9%. Thanks to continued effective risk management, asset quality improved further in 2008, with the non-performing loan ratio improving by 2.2 percentage points to stand at a creditable 5.5%. Overall profitability remained strong, with a return on equity of 23.5%. The bank’s 45.5% cost-income ratio was vastly superior to the sector average of 55.2%.