...FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 29, 2024--S&P Global Ratings said today that Erste Group's preliminary 2023 results further the bank's track record of a strong franchise and prudent underwriting. Erste Group Bank AG (A+/Stable/A-1) today reported 3 billion after-tax earnings in 2023, up 38% year on year. The group's return on tangible equity (RoTE) was 17.2%, at the higher end of our projections, continuing the bank's favorable earnings development. Over 2023, Erste profited from the catchup of eurozone interest rates and lower-than-expected credit losses despite the economic slowdown and challenging real estate markets in some of its key markets. Our projections for the group's net interest income for 2024 depend heavily on expected rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB) and central banks in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Later-than-anticipated rate cuts--as late as third-quarter 2024 for the ECB--could positively affect Erste's interest income, in our view, supporting similar...
