Around One in Five Bank Branches in Hungary Closed Last Year – Why?
- 9 Mar 2023 6:10 AM
- Hungary Around the Clock
Banks closed 322 branches last year, reducing the total from 1,832 to 1,510, as almost one in five was closed, personal finance website Bank360 reports.
In the fourth quarter alone, 128 branches were closed.
More than half of the 3,000 branches active in 2014 have since been closed.
It is a safe bet that the trend will continue, as Takarékbank will merge into MKB in May this year, and it will hardly be worthwhile for the merged MBH Bank to maintain branches that are close to one another.
The number of bank employees also decreased slightly by 176 persons last year.
The forced closure of Sberbank may have played a role in this, but more and more banks are forced to reduce the number of staff due to the decreasing demand for loans.
The consolidated net profit of the bank sector was Ft 833 billion last year, up by 3.6%, according to the MNB.
This figure includes results from the foreign subsidiaries of domestic banks.
The non-consolidated bank profit was only Ft 485 billion, 5.7% lower than in 2021.
MTI Photo: Noémi Bruzák
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