According to the study, Swiss financial institutions earn the most per customer.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich The rapid rise in interest rates over the past year has boosted European bank profits, according to a study. The operating results of private customer banks in eleven European countries increased by an average of 18 percent in 2022, and sales by 8 percent.
In Germany, however, the average bank is still far less profitable than in the rest of Europe. This was the result of an analysis of the European banking sector published by the strategy consultancy Strategy&, which belongs to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), on Sunday in Munich.
As in the previous year, Swiss banks made the most money with a profit of 426 euros per customer. The Austrian institutions were in fifth place with EUR 292, the German institutions in ninth place with EUR 201 and thus among the last three.
Study: Austerity programs drive profits
The management consultancy also drew a comparison with private customer banks in the USA and Australia – the European banks grew faster and achieved higher profits per customer on average. In the years after the international financial crisis of 2008/09, US banks were still considered internationally more competitive.
“The framework conditions for European private customer banks are more favorable than they have been for a long time,” said study author Andreas Pratz. According to Strategy&, in addition to rising interest rates, the savings programs of recent years have also had an effect: 80 percent of European banks have increased their profits in the past six years by restructuring their business and operating models. This essentially means branch closures and the expansion of online banking.