Dear Shareholders,
I am pleased to present to you the annual report of the Bank Pekao Group for 2023.
Last
year
brought
normalization
of
operating
conditions
for
the
Polish
banking
market.
It
was
a
year
of
return
to
normality
after
two
external
shocks
-
a
pandemic
shock
and
an
energy
shock,
caused
by
the
aggression
of
the
Russian
Federation
in
Ukraine,
which
also
translated
into
a
significant
increase
in
inflation.
During
2023,
the
disinflation
process
continued,
and
the
banking
sector
did
not
incur
any
extraordinary
operating
costs
that
had
a
strong
impact
on
the
results
of
previous
periods.
The
Bank
Pekao
Capital
Group
made
good
use
of
the
improved
market
situation,
increasing
the
scale
of
its
operations,
including
involvement in many new customer and employee initiatives, and also recording record-breaking financial results in history.
Let
me
start
with
customers,
who
are
always
at
the
center
of
our
strategy.
Pekao
continued
its
digital
transformation,
increasing
the
process
digitization
rate
from
69%
to
84%
during
2023
(50%
at
the
beginning
of
the
strategy).
Our
digital
banking
offer
convinced
another
0.4
million
customers,
which
led
to
an
increase
in
the
total
number
of
active
mobile
banking
customers
by
14% to 3.1 million. We have expanded the range of products available to customers, including: o the First Housing offer (over
30%
of
the
bank's
market
share)
and
the
Housing
Account,
an
offer
of
loans
with
subsidies
for
agricultural
producers,
financing
based
on
WIRON
and
new,
favorable
guarantee
solutions
and
credit
lines.
We
increased
sales
of
SME
loans
and
consumer
loans
at
a
double-digit
rate,
and
mortgage
sales
tripled.
I
would
also
like
to
draw
attention
to
the
positive
impact
on
the
market
by limiting relations with entities involved in operations on the Russian market (Yale University list).
Our
successes
would
not
be
possible
without
our
most
valuable
resource
–
our
employees.
Their
diligence,
expert
knowledge,
dedication
and
flexibility
enable
us
to
meet
our
clients'
needs.
Bank
Pekao
makes
every
effort
to
remunerate
this
work
fairly
on
market
principles,
flexibly
adapt
work
standards
to
the
pandemic
reality
and
ensure
that
our
bank
is
a
valued
employer.
Last
year,
we
significantly
improved
the
quality
of
our
offices
for
the
headquarters
and
in
the
regions.
Labor
issues
are
also
at
the
heart
of
our
own
sustainability
strategy
for
2021-2024.
As
part
of
this
part
of
the
strategy,
we
ensure
high
standards
of
supervisor
behavior,
closing
the
pay
and
development
gaps
between
women
and
men,
and
increasing
our
involvement
in
volunteering.
We
also
conduct
continuous
dialogue
with
the
social
side
and
trade
unions
operating
in
the
Pekao
Group.
We
are pleased with the consistently high rating of the Pekao Group as a desirable employer.
Bank
Pekao
takes
a
responsible
approach
to
its
role
in
the
economic
environment
as
an
institution
that
cares
for
our
other
stakeholders. In 2022, we were again among the largest Polish payers of income tax and sectoral tax on financial institutions.
In
2023,
the
Bank's
volunteering
partners
were:
UNEP/GRID-Warsaw
Center
-
Department
of
the
National
Environmental
Protection
Foundation,
Apiterra
Foundation,
Warsaw
Banking
Institute
Foundation,
Zdrowy
Ruch
Foundation,
Warsaw
Uprising
Museum,
Polish
Red
Cross,
Anthill
Association,
SOS
Children's
Villages
Association,
Society
for
the
Protection
of
Animals
in
Poland.
We
are
actively
involved
in
voluntary
blood
donation
and
organize
competitions
as
part
of
the
"We
are
close"
campaign,
addressed
to
employees
working
for
the
benefit
of
local
communities
in
their
surroundings
and
recognizing
their
needs.
The
direct
beneficiaries
of
the
competition
are
members
of
organizations
receiving
aid,
residents
of
care
and
educational
institutions,
participants
of
workshops
and
thematic
classes,
patients
staying
in
medical
facilities,
members
of
sports
clubs,
music
clubs,
and
animals
in
shelters.
In
2023,
we
carried
out
120
local
aid
actions
in
100
towns.
The
beneficiaries
of
volunteering
were
nearly
18,000
people,
including:
children
and
youth,
people
with
disabilities,
refugees
from
Ukraine,
people
practicing sports, recipients of health and life protection campaigns, and animals under the care of shelters and shelters.
The
lack
of
one-off
charges
revealed
the
high
profitability
of
our
business;
The
consolidated
net
profit
of
the
Bank
Pekao
Capital
Group
turned
out
to
be
record-breaking
in
our
almost
hundred-year
history
and
amounted
to
PLN
6.6
bn.
We
have
a
large
capital
surplus
above
regulatory
minimums,
including
dividend
minimums.
The
liquidity
position
is
also
characterized
by
large
buffers
above
regulatory
minimums.
Last
year's
great
success
was
the
debt
issues
of
the
SNP
and
the
State
Treasury,
the
implementation
of
which
allowed
for
the
construction
of
a
safe
MREL
buffer.
Especially
the
November
debt
issue
on
the
Eurobond market, with only 2.4 p.p. margin, showed the good perception of Bank Pekao by debt investors.
Last
year
was
the
third
year
of
operationalization
of
two
strategies
-
business
and
sustainable
development.
As
for
the
main
goals
of
the
former
-
we
are
on
the
path
to
achieving
the
goals
for
2024
(ROE
at
least
10%,
C/I
42%,
3.2
million
active
mobile
customers
and
a
digitization
rate
close
to
100%).
In
terms
of
ESG,
last
year
saw
a
further
increase
in
green
financing
to
7.2%
of
the
total
loanbook,
from
4.6%
the
year
before.
We
reduced
the
Pekao
Group's
carbon
footprint
(Scope
1+2)
from
45.1
kt
CO2
to
41.7
kt
CO2
according
to
GHG,
mainly
by
purchasing
green
energy.
Volunteer
hours
increased
dynamically,
to
over
9.5 thousand. We also continued to close the gender pay gap.