Erste CEO will not renew contract due to conflict on strategy

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpFRANKFURT Reuters – Austrias largest bank Erste Group said on Friday that CEO Bernd Spalt would not renew his contract, which runs until June 30, 2023, due to “differing opinions on the future, longterm strategic orientation of the group”.p

pErste did not specify what the differences in opinions were.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pThe bank said its supervisory board would start the replacement process for its CEO after the lenders annual general meeting on May 18, 2022, and Spalt would continue to manage Erste until further notice.p

pSpalt took over from Europes longestserving bank chief executive Andreas Treichl in January 2020, right before the COVID19 crisis shook markets worldwide.p

pErste, which operates in Austria and six eastern European markets including Hungary and Romania, runs no business of its own in Russia and Ukraine and its customers have little exposure to the two countries.p

pOn April 29, the bank reported a solid first quarter and said it was confident about the rest of 2022 thanks to its strong capital and liquidity, though it said growth may slow down as countries in its core region still depend on imports of Russian energy.p

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pp Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska editing by Jason Neelyp

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