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"BA-CA has the crucial task of continuing to manage the Austrian market successfully and to unlock the full growth potential of the Central and Eastern European countries."
Ladies and Gentlemen,
BA-CA and the entire UniCredit Group can look back at a highly successful 2006.
The speed and effectiveness of the integration between BA-CA, UniCredit and HVB exceeded even our own bold expectations, and the Group and its major members were able to create value and establish a strong foundation for their future growth.
The challenge ahead is to continue to evolve as one of Europe’s leading players in financial services, and to take advantage of all relevant opportunities in strong, mature markets such as Austria, as well as in markets with significant growth potential. It is precisely in this context that BA-CA has the crucial task of continuing to manage the Austrian market successfully and to unlock the full growth potential of the Central and Eastern European countries.
In 2006, in order to achieve these goals, we adopted a division-based business model that targets specific customer segments. This model allows us, on the one hand, to achieve the greatest degree of customer satisfaction by personalising service at the local level and, on the other, to take advantage of the Group’s potential and size by creating global business areas and centres of excellence.
We are confident that our customers in Austria will benefit from the Group’s expertise in several business areas and from the global product factories that are able to exploit the Group’s economies of scale and knowledge base.
Making BA-CA the sub-holding company for Central and Eastern European countries and assigning it the related management responsibility for all equity investments held in the banks operating in that area, was a natural recognition of the historical role played by BA-CA, and Austria in general, as a bridge to the East.
The recently announced decision to buy out the minority shareholders of BA-CA should be seen as the natural conclusion of the Group’s reorganisation process. This decision is merely an effort to streamline the operational and decision-making processes between Group companies, and will also benefit BA-CA given its vital dual role as an Austrian company and the sub-holding company for CEE countries.
The operating and financial results reported in these accounts are more than solid, and they very clearly demonstrate our ability to create value and illustrate the growth opportunities that lie ahead for BA-CA and the Group as a whole.
We are keenly aware that our challenging business goals cannot be achieved without a clear, value-based framework able to inspire the work and behaviour of our employees, whilst preserving their ability to act as entrepreneurs as well as the Group’s reputation. In 2006 we took the first steps on this long path by introducing and discussing the Integrity Charter which contains the shared values forming the foundation of our Group’s identity.
I would like to end by extending my heartfelt thanks to our colleagues at BA-CA who in 2006 have often worked under conditions of stress and uncertainty. When all is said and done, they are the true architects of our success story, which has only just begun.
Alessandro Profumo
Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit,
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG