Economics
Eastern European Banks Are Now Growth Leaders
- Valuations of region’s lenders surge to highest since 2015
- Economic growth, prospects for higher rates help banks rebound
JPM's Camporeale: Three Reasons to Invest in Europe
This article is for subscribers only.
Consumer spending is booming. Interest rates are bottoming out. Eastern Europe’s banking sector is on an upswing.
After surviving the toxic mix of near-zero borrowing costs, harsh regulatory curbs and damage from foreign-currency mortgages, lenders are benefiting from economic expansion accelerating to the fastest in years across much of the European Union’s east. Polish banks’ combined net income rose 8 percent in the first nine months of this year excluding the sale of their Visa Europe stake last year. Hungary’s OTP boosted profit by a fifth in that period.