Erste Group Bank AG (Erste Group For Short) Is An Austrian Financial Services Provider. It Is One Of The Largest Financial Services Providers In Central And Eastern Europe, Serving More Than 10 Million Customers In 16, Multiple Branches In Seven Countries. Erste Group Is Headquartered In Vienna And Is A Universal Bank.
Erste Group Is The Core Entity Of Sparkassengruppe Österreich (Austrian Savings Bank Group) And Österreichischer Sparkassenverband. Since The European Banking Regulation Came Into Force At The End Of 2014, It Has Been Designated As A Significant Institution And Is Therefore Directly Regulated By The European Central Bank. The Main Shareholder Of Erste Group Is The Non-profit ERSTE Foundation.
In 1997, The Erste Group Went Public, And Today The Company Is Listed On The Vienna, Prague And Bucharest Exchanges And Is Included In The CEETX, ATX And PX Indices.
Expansion Into Central And Eastern Europe
Europatta, Home Of Erste Bank In Budapest
Headquarters Building In Prague Šeskáspožitelna
Slovenskásporité
Headquarters Building In Bratislava
Banca Comercialá Românä Bucharest
Austria
In 1996, Salzburger Sparkasse Was Incorporated Into The Banking Group. Shortly Before The Turn Of The Millennium, Sparkasse Oberösterreich Took Over All The Upper Austrian Branches Of Erste Bank, Thus Acquiring A 26% Stake In What Is Now The Largest Federal National Savings Bank. In 2000, Erste Bank Acquired A 25% Stake In Steiermärkische Sparkasse. In January 2001, Acquired A 16% Stake In Tiroler Sparkasse. In 2021, Purchased Shares In Bausparkasse Derösterreichischen Sparkassen;, Acquired The Remaining Shares.
In 2021, Erste Bank Group Still Holds A 39.19% Stake In Sparkasse Oberösterreich. By Early 2024, The Share Has Fallen To 16.84%.
The Shares Of Salzburger Sparkasse, Sparkasse Oberösterreich And Tiroler Sparkasse Remain Owned By Erste Bank, Not The Erste Group.
Hungary
The First Hungarian Acquisition Was The 1997 Acquisition Of Mezžbank (privatized By GiroCredit). The Following Year, It Was Renamed Erste Bank Hungary Zrt.
In 2003, Postal Bank Hungary Was Acquired And A Year Later Merged With Erste Bank Hungary Zrt. In October 2021, Erste Group Announced That It Would Acquire 23% Of The Hungarian Commercial Bank Zrt.
CZECH REPUBLIC
In 2000, The Majority Stake In Czechoskáspožitelna Was Acquired (52% Of The Shares, Worth 53.098 Billion Euros). Over The Next Two Years, More Shares Were Acquired, Resulting In A 1% Stake In A Czech Credit Institution At The End Of 2002, The Total Purchase Price Increased To 35.424 Billion Euros. The Remaining Shares Were Acquired In 25 Years.
CROATIA
In 2000, Three Small Croatian Banks (Bjelovarska Banka D.d., Trgovačka Banka D.d.und Šakovečka Banka D.d.) Merger, Creating Erste & Steiermärkische Bank D.d., Which Was Acquired By Erste Bank And Steiermärkische Bank Und Sparkassen AG In 1997.
In 2003, Croatian Riječka Bank Merged With Erste & Steiermärkische Bank. As Of 2022, Erste & Steiermärkische Bank D.d. Is The Third Largest Bank In Croatia.
Ukraine And Other Countries
In 2007, Erste Bank Acquired A 79% Stake In Ukrainian Bank Prestige For 1 Million Euros And Renamed It Erste Bank Ukraine. In April 2013, Erste Group Sold Its Ukrainian Subsidiary To The Owner Of Fidobank Ukraine For Approximately 630,000 Euros.
In Addition, Erste Group Bank Established Subsidiaries Of Savings Bank And Company In Moldova (1998), Slovenia (1999 And 2006), Bosnia And Herzegovina (2006), North Macedonia (2008) And Montenegro (2009).
Erste Group Structure
Erste Group Bank AG Is A Public Limited Company That Was Derived From Erste Bank In 2008 And Has Since Been The Holding Company Of The Group's Subsidiary Banks In Austria And Abroad. The Bank Is Active In Seven Countries In Central And Eastern Europe, And Its Private And Corporate Client Operations Are Concentrated In The Eastern Part Of The European Union, Including Austria.
The Erste Group Is Headquartered In Vienna. In Addition, The Banking Group Has Branches In New York City, Hong Kong, Berlin And Stuttgart, Covering Lending Business With Foreign Banks, Leasing Companies And Sovereign Borrowers, As Well As Institutional Sales.
The Shares Of The Erste Group Are Traded On The Vienna, Prague And Bucharest Stock Exchanges And Are Weighted In The CEETX, ATX And PX Indices. As Of May 2024, They Are The Most Weighted Component Of The ATX, Which Reflects The Blue Chips Of The Vienna Stock Exchange. Erste Group Also Holds A 7.52% Stake In The Vienna Stock Exchange.
