Strategy pays off

After a complete overhaul: VKB with best result ever

New brand image, new strategy: VKB General Director Markus Auer is pleased with the rewards of the changes.

(Bild: VKB/Neumayr/Christian Leopold)

The operating result is higher than ever before, the consolidated profit has risen to 29.5 million euros and the balance sheet total has also grown - VKB General Director Markus Auer is delighted with the "above-average growth" in some areas. The modernization course adopted by the bank, which operates from Linz, is paying off.

A change of color to green, plus a new slogan with "Your bank. Your success" - the VKB bosses around CEO Markus Auer and Managing Directors Alexander Seiler and Maria Steiner gave the bank a new look during last year's brand relaunch. "We really put our money where our mouth is," said Auer when he presented the figures for 2023 together with his fellow board members on Thursday.

Branches planned in Vienna and Graz
What stood out was that not only deposits, profits and the like grew in the past year, but also the number of branches. The company has been represented in Salzburg since summer 2023, followed by a branch in Linz-Urfahr in March of this year. "And the expansion continues," says Seiler. A second location in Vienna is planned, and they also want to take off in Graz.

We haven't broken any china, but we have consistently cut back on the things we are no longer focusing on.

Markus Auer, Generaldirektor VKB

Incidentally, the managers see the reasons for the successful performance in the modernization course embarked upon in 2021. "We imposed an extremely complex and demanding process on the bank and the three of us," explains Auer, who speaks of "a jolt" that went through the company.

"We did everything before that"
The focus is now clearly on entrepreneurial and private SMEs. "Before that, we did everything. And if you do everything, you lose focus at some point," says Auer. Addendum: "We have given ourselves a makeover so that we can become more successful again - we have mastered this quite well over the last three years."