Financial reporting of EU banks benchmark study 2025: CEE Supplement

In parallel with the ninth edition of Forvis Mazars benchmark study on the financial reporting of European banks, Forvis Mazars in Poland prepared a dedicated supplement focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

This regional analysis focusing on 18 banking groups across the CEE region, including 10 from Poland, provides additional insights into how banks in this part of Europe are navigating economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

The CEE supplement highlights the resilience of CEE banks and points to improving indicators in their non-performing loan (NPL) portfolios.

Key insights from the CEE supplement:

• CEE banks saw a drop in credit losses in 2024, with net ECL charges down by 4.9%. While positive, this decline was smaller than the 8% drop reported by Western European (WE) banks. 
• Loan loss coverage ratios fell for CEE banks, landing at 3.52% by the end of 2024 (down from 3.89% in 2023). That 37 basis point drop is sharper than the 10 bps decline observed for WE banks 
• The biggest driver was a drop in Stage 3 coverage, which fell from 61.4% to 57% – a 440 bps decrease, much steeper than the 80 bps decline among Western peers. 

Read Financial reporting of EU banks benchmark study 2025 

Read the CEE suplement 

Szymon Turkowski, Partner, Forvis Mazars in Poland, who oversaw the preparation of the CEE supplement, commented: 

“The credit portfolios of CEE banks remain riskier than those of their Western European counterparts, but they also experienced a decline in credit risk throughout 2024. We observed a significant 440 basis point drop in Stage 3 coverage, contributing to a total loan portfolio coverage reduction of 37 basis points. These reductions exceed those seen in WE banks—80 basis points for Stage 3 and 10 basis points for the total portfolio. This improvement signals strong preparedness among CEE banks to absorb potential shocks, particularly in light of shifting geopolitical conditions. We anticipate that recent changes in U.S. trade policy, which are not reflected in the 2024 results, could play a role in 2025 performance.”