„We are satisfied with the business result achieved in the first quarter of 2025. We are pleased with the increase in new lending volume, further growth of users of our digital services and the continued inflow of new customers, all of which confirms Erste Bank's strong position on the domestic market. Strong capitalisation and dispersed operations allow us to support all healthy and good quality projects of the private and public sector, through which we contribute to the growth and development of the Croatian economy as a whole,“ said Christoph Schoefboeck, President of the Management Board of Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. („Bank“), commenting on the results achieved in the first three months of 2025 and added: „Separating KEKS Pay into its own company will create room for further development of the app and new strategic advances, including expansion to other markets. Our position is that Croatia has the potential to become a financial centre of this region and we are certain that this goal can be fully realized in practice by making additional efforts to strengthen the legal and investment security.“
„We are satisfied with the business result achieved in the first quarter of 2025. We are pleased with the increase in new lending volume, further growth of users of our digital services and the continued inflow of new customers, all of which confirms Erste Bank's strong position on the domestic market. Strong capitalisation and dispersed operations allow us to support all healthy and good quality projects of the private and public sector, through which we contribute to the growth and development of the Croatian economy as a whole,“ said Christoph Schoefboeck, President of the Management Board of Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. („Bank“), commenting on the results achieved in the first three months of 2025 and added: „Separating KEKS Pay into its own company will create room for further development of the app and new strategic advances, including expansion to other markets. Our position is that Croatia has the potential to become a financial centre of this region and we are certain that this goal can be fully realized in practice by making additional efforts to strengthen the legal and investment security.“
According to the unaudited consolidated financial statement, EBC Group's1 net profit after minority interests in Q1 2025 was EUR 69 million, up 6.2% year-on-year from EUR 65 million in 2024. EBC Group’s net interest income was EUR 107 million, down 0.9% from EUR 108 million in Q1 2024. Net fee and commission income was EUR 33 million, up 6.5% from EUR 31 million in Q1 2024. Net trading and fair value result in Q1 2025 was EUR 5 million, compared to EUR 4 million in the same period last year.
ECB Group's total assets as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 16.4 billion, down 0.8% from EUR 16.5 billion at YE 2024. Total loans to customers as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 10 billion, up 3.5% from EUR 9.7 billion at YE 2024. Total deposits of ECB Group's customers as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 12.2 billion, down 2.5% from EUR 12.6 billion at YE 2024.
1 The consolidated financial statement for the EBC Group includes, in addition to Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d., the following affiliates: Erste Nekretnine d.o.o., Erste&Steiermärkische S-Leasing d.o.o, Erste Bank a.d., Podgorica, Erste Card Club d.o.o. and Izbor Nekretnina d.o.o.
The result achieved in Q1 2025 was positively impacted by the increased volume of new lending and payment transactions, further reduction of risk costs and the positive effect arising from the one-off tax costs from Q1 2024. At the same time, the operating cost component also grew, where particularly noticeable increases concerned personnel costs as the result of continued investments in employees and other administrative costs as the result of the unit cost increase.
An increase in new lending volume was recorded in both business segments in Q1 2025. In retail there was a particular increase in demand for housing loans, while new cash loans saw a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In the corporate sector, an increase in new lending volume was recorded primarily among large corporate clients. At the same time, there was a slight decline in total deposits of customers, primarily due to a decline of financial institutions' short-term deposits and the seasonal character of doing business with corporate clients, while retail saw a slight growth, particularly when it comes to term deposits.
According to the unaudited unconsolidated financial report, which includes the results of the Bank excluding affiliated companies, net profit in Q1 2025 was EUR 62 million, up 6.9% year-on-year from EUR 58 million in 2024. Net interest income was up 2.2% from EUR 93 million in Q1 2024 to EUR 95 million in Q1 2025, while net fee and commission income was up 18.2% from EUR 22 million in Q1 2024 to EUR 26 million in the same period in 2025, mostly as a result of the integration of the card issuing segment from Erste Card Club in the Bank. Net trading and fair value result was EUR 5 million, compared to EUR 4 million in the same period the year before.
The Bank's total assets as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 15.0 billion, down 0.8% from EUR 15.1 billion at YE 2024. Total loans to customers as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 8.9 billion, up 3.6% from EUR 8.6 billion at YE 2024. Total deposits of the Bank's clients as at 31 March 2025 were EUR 11.6 billion, down 2.6% from EUR 11.9 billion at YE 2024.