Dear Stakeholders,
The
coronavirus
pandemic
and
COVID-19
related
sanitary
restrictions
have
led
to
the
first
since
1991
downturn
in
Poland’s
GDP.
According
to
the
Central
Statistical
Office
(GUS),
in
2020
Poland’s
GDP
fell
in
real
terms
by
2.7%
y/y,
whereas
a year
earlier
it
went
up
by
4.5%.
Despite
the
decline,
thanks
to
net
export,
its
scale
in
2020
was
about
1/3
of
that
from
the
beginning
of
the
transformation
period
(then,
GDP
fell
by
7%
y/y)
and
about
1/2
of
what
was
indicated
by
estimates
made
in
the
spring
during
the
first
wave
of
the
pandemic.
Just
as
in
other
countries,
also
in
Poland
the
economy
was
supported
by
the
huge
fiscal
package
(6.5%
of
GDP).
Despite
a prominently
weaker
economy
and
accelerating
inflation
during
2020,
the
Monetary
Policy
Council
cut
interest
rates
three
times
in
response
to
the
pandemic
shock.
Since May 2020, they have been kept at historically low levels - the reference rate is 0.1%.
Besides
the
pandemic
and
the
macroeconomic
environment,
as
was
the
case
a year
ago
-
the
performance
of
the
banking
sector
was
also
very
much
affected
by
two
judgments
of
the
European
Court
of
Justice
(CJEU)
entered
in
the
second
half
of
2019.
The
one
on
mortgage
loans
in
foreign
currency,
and
in
particular
Swiss
franc,
resulted
in
a clear
acceleration
of
the
growth
rate
of
litigations
in
the
sector.
This
is
one
of
the
reasons
why,
in
December
2020,
the
Chair
of
the
KNF
presented
a proposal
to
solve
this
problem
by
concluding
the
so-called
voluntary
settlements
by
and
between
the
customer
and
the
bank
whereby
a foreign
currency
loan
would
be
converted
into
a PLN
one.
According
to
the
KNF
data,
such
solutions
may
cost
the
banking
sector
around
PLN
35
billion.
In
addition,
some
banks
still
experienced
the
negative
consequences
of
the
ruling
on
early
repaid
consumer
loans
-
before
the
contractual
due
date, as they had to make provisions for historical exposures repaid before the date of the ruling itself.
Despite
volatile
economic
and
regulatory
conditions,
the
ING
Bank
Śląski
S.A.
Group
consistently
delivered
on
its
business
strategy.
Its
unchanging
aim
is
to
increase
the
scale
of
operations
through
the
acquisition
of
new
clients
and
offering
convenient
and
state-of-the
art
solutions
and
products
designed
to
meet
the
expectations
of
clients
in
all
segments.
In
2020,
as
in
the
previous
a dozen
or
so
years
the
Group
increased
its
lending
and
deposit
portfolios,
while
maintaining
good
quality
of
assets
and
sustaining sound capital and liquidity positions.
In
2020,
the
Group
acquired
359,000
retail
customers
and
77,000
corporate
customers.
In
total,
at
the
end
of
2020,
the
Group
serves
4.7
million
customers,
2.1
million
primary
customers
included.
The
increase
in
the
number
of
customers
translates
into
an
upturn
in
business
volumes,
with
the
portfolio
of
gross
receivables
from
customers
increasing
by
7%
y/y
to
PLN
126.0
billion
and
the
portfolio
of
liabilities
to
customers
increasing
by
16%
up
to
PLN
149.3
billion.
Due
to
the
above,
the
balance
sheet
total
of
the
Group
reached
PLN
186.6
billion,
or
was
18%
higher
than
a year
ago.
As
deposits
grew
faster
than
loans,
the
end-of-year
LtD
ratio
was
82.6%,
or
8.1
p.p.
less
than
last
year.
At
the
end
of
2020,
the
total
capital
ratio was at a high and safe level of 18.72%.
