Raiffeisen International (RI), the specialist central and eastern Europe (CEE) subsidiary of Austria’s RZB Group, is set for more dramatic expansion in the region following its hugely successful record IPO in April. The €1.1bn issue was the largest ever IPO in Austria and the fourth largest worldwide so far this year. But the key factor was that the order book was 22 times over-subscribed, providing a ringing endorsement for the pioneering strategy of Raiffeisen CEO Herbert Stepic. With plans to buy a bank in the Ukraine and expand organically in Russia, RI is strategically positioned in profitable growth markets – from Serbia in the Balkans, across central Europe, to Russia and Kazakhstan in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.
In 2004, the ‘pure play’ RI increased pre-tax profits by 23.7% to €342.2m with an increasing share coming from the CIS (23%) and the seven south-eastern Europe (SEE) markets (29%) – together overtaking its five banks in the CEE (48%). With balance sheet growth of 44.1% in 2004, RI has been able to sustain exceptional organic growth along with strategic acquisitions in Albania, Bulgaria and Bosnia. Mr Stepic expects the increasing profit share from SEE and the CIS to continue.
