Established market share with corporate and retail clients in the Austrian State of Vorarlberg. Growing capital buffer to cover risks. Comfortable funding and liquidity, backed by implicit support from Vorarlberg, which supports customer confidence. Highly competitive banking market in Austria, which limits profitability. Geographical concentration in the region, which makes the bank vulnerable to cyclical downturns. S&P Global Ratings' stable outlook on Austria-based bank Vorarlberger Landes-und Hypothekenbank Aktiengesellschaft (HYPO Vorarlberg) reflects our expectation that the state owner's support and the bank's profile will remain unchanged over the next two years. A positive rating action would hinge upon improvement of the bank's capital base, as indicated by sustainable improvement of our projected risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio above 10%. An improvement of
