Erste Group shareholders are paying heavily for a mega acquisition in Poland

The reason was quickly identified: the mega takeover in Poland for 6.8 billion euros, which was formally completed in January, is financed entirely from its own resources. Naturally, profits must be retained and cannot be distributed.

As a result, the dividend for the 2025 financial year will fall significantly from the previous three euros per share to just 0.75 euros per share. However, the board promised a return to an “attractive dividend policy” for the following years.

3.5 billion net profit

Regarding the figures for the past financial year: The loan volume in the group climbed by 6.4 percent to 232.0 billion euros, which helped net interest income increase from 7.5 to 7.8 billion. In addition to higher lending, the bank achieved a 4.7 percent increase in deposits, which rose from 241.7 to 253.0 billion euros.

The bottom line was a net profit of 3.5 billion euros, after 3.1 billion euros in 2024.

Entry into Poland opens up access to the largest and fastest-growing market in the region and thus great growth opportunities for the group, said bank boss Bosek. The bank is correspondingly optimistic for the 2026 financial year: the group’s loan volume, including Poland, is expected to reach the 285 billion euro mark. Bosek was targeting four billion euros in net profit this year.

New league

The takeover of the controlling half of the Polish Santander subsidiary and its transformation into Erste Bank Polska has allowed the Vienna banking group to “enter a different league” of European banking, added CFO Stefan Dörfler. As of the first quarter of 2026, Poland will be fully consolidated in Erste Group’s balance sheet for the first time.