BAWAG P.S.K.

BAWAG P.S.K. (German: Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft) is the fourth largest bank in Austria.^[1] It was formed on October 1, 2005 by the merger of the separate banks P.S.K. and BAWAG.

As of 2016, the bank serviced more than 2.5 million customers all over Austria. It serves Austrian retail, small business and corporate customers across the country, offering savings, payment, lending, leasing, investment, building society and insurance products and services. Two-thirds of the customer loans derive from Austria. The international activities focus on retail, corporate, commercial real estate and portfolio lending in Western developed countries 

History

BAWAG was founded in 1922 by former Austrian Chancellor Karl Renner to extend favourable terms of credit to ordinary people, as the 'Austrian Worker's Bank'. The bank was forced to close in 1934, but resumed its operations post World War II in 1947. In 1963, it took the name of Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG, BAWAG, or, in English, 'Bank for Labour and Business Corporation'. Until 2006, the bank's majority shareholder was the ÖGB, the Austrian Trade Union Federation.

Operations

BAWAG P.S.K. is one of the largest banks in Austria.[6] By year-end 2016, BAWAG P.S.K. reported total assets of 39.7 billion euros, an operating income of 991 million euros, a profit before tax of 470 million euros and total equity of 3.1 billion euros.[7] The number of employees amounted to 2,496.[8] Anas Abuzaakouk is Chairman of the Managing Board (CEO) since March 2017

n 2012, BAWAG P.S.K. began executing a transformational initiative to improve and restructure its operations to improve its financial strength and efficiency. The key pillars of the transformation included re-focusing on core geographic markets and products, driving cost efficiency through disciplined cost management and simplified processes and deleveraging the balance sheet to increase capital and liquidity. As a result BAWAG P.S.K.’s profit before tax increased from €23 million in 2012 to €470 million in 2016, primarily resulting from stronger core revenues and reduced operating expenses.