Erste Group falls as distribution, FY profit miss expectations

Erste Bank AG

28/02/2025 10:14

** Erste Group's ERST.VI stock falls 4.6% as the Austrian lender announced a lower-than-expected dividend and a share buyback

** The Vienna-based bank targets a dividend for 2024 equalling 41.2% of its yearly adjusted net profit as well as a share buy-back program in the amount of 23.7% of adjusted net profit

** J.P. Morgan says the buyback programme of 709 million euros ($737 million) is below its estimate of 750 million

** The broker adds that Erste's full year net profit for 2024 came 6% below the company compiled consensus

        ** "Only the amount of dividend in combination with the share buyback is slightly disappointing for us and it is slightly lower than we expected," J&T Banka notes

** Erste Group falls to the bottom of both the Austrian traded index .ATX as well as the Pan-european STOXX 600 banks index .SX7P

($1 = 0.9620 euros)

 (Reporting by Tristan Veyet)

 ((Tristan.chabba@thomsonreuters.com))