BFG’s statistics do not include Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, the only institution operating as a state bank (other “state banks” are joint-stock companies), or branches of foreign banks.
Not only billions are important, but also percentages
The sector’s result was PLN 16.2 billion higher than a year earlier. The result achieved last year was nominally the highest in history.
However, bankers look not so much at nominal amounts, but at the relationship to equity capital. It allows you to determine the degree of profitability of their business. The return on equity (ROE) was 14.4% in 2023. A year earlier it was 6.3%, and two years earlier it was 3.5%. There is visible improvement. In terms of profitability, however, the sector is far from the results achieved in the first decade of this century. Back then, the ROE ratio even exceeded 20%.
Commercial banks earned PLN 22.5 billion last year, PLN 14.6 billion more than the year before. The cooperative sector can boast a result of PLN 4.7 billion. Here, the profit improved by PLN 1.6 billion compared to the previous year.
Banks made money thanks to high interest rates
The largest item in income is net interest income, which amounted to PLN 92.9 billion in 2023 and was PLN 21.1 billion higher than a year earlier. The improvement is the result of interest rate increases in 2021 and 2022, which resulted in increased loan revenues. Banks’ deposit costs also increased, but to a much lesser extent.
The interest margin – in simple terms, the difference in interest rates on loans and deposits – amounted to 3.83 percent last year, compared to 3.3 percent. a year earlier and 2.2 percent in 2022. Rate cuts made by the Monetary Policy Council in September and October last year. caused the margin to decrease slightly at the end of 2023. In the first three quarters it was 3.87%.
Administrative costs decreased by PLN 0.6 billion to PLN 39.9 billion.
