On the weekend, Raiffeisen CEO Karl Sevelda remarked that RBI did not want to exit the Hungarian market, but a statement of clarification from the bank on Monday stated that “a withdrawal from [Hungary] cannot be ruled out.”
But yesterday Sevelda got coyer on the subject, quoted in a Reuters report as teasing that “We won’t leave Hungary[; we’d rather leave] Ukraine than Hungary. But what does it mean not to leave Hungary…?”
Though “we never turn down talks” such as those for RBI’s Hungary-based unit, Sevelda once again called the country his bank’s “heart’s blood.” On the other other hand, he said “If I look at … Hungary for instance, or now at Croatia or also Slovenia, there is no chance that banks ever will earn their cost of capital … one shouldn’t say ‘never,’ but certainly not in the next ten years.”
RBI earlier reported a €83 million loss by its Hungarian operation comprised of 125 outlets in the first six months of 2013; for the same period in 2012, losses were €82 million from 134 outlets. As of June 30, RBI reported assets of €6.324 billion in Hungary, down 14.4% year-on-year.
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