Erste Group Bank AG
On 8 July 2021 we had the pleasure of an online-meeting with the CFO of Erste Group Bank, Mr. Stefan Dörfler.
© Erste Bank / Christian Wind - „Zur Verfügung gestellt von Erste Group Bank AG“
On 8 July 2021 we had the pleasure of an online-meeting with the CFO of Erste
Group Bank, Mr. Stefan Dörfler. Founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings
bank, Erste Group went public in 1997 with a strategy to expand its retail
business into Central and Eastern Europe. Since then Erste Group has grown
through numerous acquisitions and organically to become one of the largest
financial services providers in the Eastern part of the EU in terms of clients
and total assets.
CFO Stefan Dörfler gave an overview on the current activities of the Bank.
Erste Group is the leading bank in Central and Eastern Europe for advising and
servicing private clients. With more than 2.176 branches in 7 countries, Erste
Group offers individual solutions and an outstanding customer experience over
the phone, online, via mobile offers and numerous other channels. In
cooperation with the saving banks they are also present in 5 further countries.
CFO Stefan Dörfler pointed out to the fact that Erste Group Bank is a retail
bank and at the same time a universal bank for the private, corporate and
public sector, thus having a good balance. Its digital platform George is very
successful. Erste Group Bank fared quite well during the pandemic. Now Austria
is economically doing good and the CEE Countries may even do better with the
possible exception of Croatia, which is heavily depending on tourism. Hungary,
Romania, Slovakia are significantly above pre-Covid level and the Czech
Republic even has overtaken Spain by its GDP per Capita. The CEE Countries
recovery index now in 2021 is very positive after the dramatic drop in the
first half of 2020. However there are problems with the supply chain. This is
affecting all of Europe and it may lead to additional investments in CEE
Countries in order to reduce the dependency on supplies from East Asian
countries. With the current difficulties on the supply side prices may go up in
addition to higher costs for raw materials and construction materials which
will lead to higher inflation. Another problem is the demographic development
with ever more people above 50, which has to be taken into consideration by the
bank. The capital markets in CEE Countries are still underdeveloped.
In the Q&A session CFO Dörfler pointed out that Austria became much more
active in the CEE Countries than Germany which may have to do with its past.
The advantages of near shore production were clearly seen. Given the
difficulties in the supply chain from East Asia, near shore production in CEE
Countries may get again into the focus of Western European companies interested
in reliable and safe supply from production sites in the vicinity. Another
consequence of the pandemic is home office. However according to CFO Dörfler
office space will continue to be in need, at least for additional IT
activities. A good location is still essential. The speedy roll out of the EU
Revovery Fund will be decisive for the economic development of the EU including
all of the CEE Countries. Concerning Belt&Road CFO Dörfler pointed out that
it is a european political question to deal with. Cooperation is unavoidable but
a clear decision where Europe should stand necessary.
© Erste Bank / Daniela Beranek - „Zur Verfügung gestellt von Erste Group Bank AG“
Stefan Dörfler, Member of the Management Board/CFO - Erste Group Bank AG
The mathematics graduate began his banking career at Giro Credit, before
joining Erste Bank in 1997. Starting from 1999 Stefan Dörfler held various
management positions within the capital markets business - trading, sales and
origination across most asset classes. For more than 7 years he served as Head
of Group Markets and his responsibilities included divisions across all Erste
Group CEE countries as well as the offices in London, Hongkong and NY.
Apart from several supervisory board positions within Erste Group Dörfler has been serving as member of the supervisory board of the Vienna Stock Exchange for many years. Close cooperation with all business lines of Erste Group as well as the Austrian Savings Bank sector has always been a key priority for him in every management role. Stefan Dörfler was appointed as CEO of Erste Bank Oesterreich in 2016 with responsibility inter alia for SME-, Corporate- and Real Estate Business, HR, IT & Op’s and the cooperation with the Savings Bank sector. In July 2019 he has been appointed as a member of the Executive Board of Erste Group Bank AG in the role of Chief Financial Officer/CFO. His responsibilities include Group ALM, Group Data Management and Reporting, Group Accounting and Group Controlling as well as Group Services.
