Citigroup, the majority shareholder of Bank Handlowy, has reinitiated the process of selling its retail business in Poland, with discussions set to commence in the coming months, Bank Handlowy's CEO, Elzbieta Czetwertynska, told an earnings conference on November 10.
Citigroup first said it eyed selling its retail banking operations in 13 EMEA and Asian markets, including Poland and Russia, in 2021. The company said it “does not have the scale” to compete effectively in the markets it is about to exit.
Citigroup operates in Poland as Citi Handlowy with some 645,000 business customers and 450,000 individual customers.
"Citi has resumed the process of selling its retail business in Poland. I expect that talks with interested parties will start in the coming months," Czetwertynska said, according to Poland’s state-run newswire PAP.
Also on November 10, Bank Handlowy released its consolidated earnings report for the third quarter.
The bank’s net profit grew 108.5% y/y to PLN 591.6mn (€133.2mn), slightly exceeding expectations for a PLN 573.8mn net take.
Bank Handlowy’s stocks fell 0.91% to PLN87.2 at the close of trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on November 10. Year to date, the lender’s stock price has grown 28.4%.
The bank’s market cap is PLN11.4bn.
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