Ceska Sporitelna
Ceska Sporitelna’s stunning transformation from a bank with obsolete IT systems and poor service into one of the Czech Republic’s most modern and formidable banks has won it the award.
At the start of 2001, the management realised that if the bank were to compete domestically and internationally, it would have to be modernised and made more responsive to customers’ needs. Equally important were measures to cut costs and improve profitability.
That all these measures are bearing fruit for Ceska Sporitelna is reflected in its results. The bank’s ROE surged to an impressive 21.4% in 2002 from 7.6% in 2001, while its cost-to-income ratio fell from 68.6% to 62.6%.
“These achievements resulted from the hard work of all personnel at Ceska Sporitelna, the steady improvement in the economy of the Czech Republic and strong support from our major shareholder, the Erste Group,” commented Jack Stack, the bank’s chairman. “Ceska Sporitelna’s future success will be based on improving customer service, a growing loan portfolio for both consumer and business clients, professional, hard-working staff and an expanding Czech economy as it enters the EU.”
