⚠ Flat Headcount Is Easier Before the Branches CloseModerate threat

PKO Bank Polski (PKO) — threat to the moat

Holding headcount flat while running 947 branches is a different problem from doing it while closing them.

PKO has held employment almost constant — 25 657 to 26 252 across five years1 — which is impressive while the business is growing and becomes a different problem when it is not.

What 26 252 people are for947branches to staff225agencies~3 100ATMs to service12,46mcustomers to serveHolding headcount flat while running the network is a different problem from doing it while shrinking it
The efficiency came from not hiring. The next tranche has to come from letting people go, and a state shareholder has views about that.

The bank has not yet had to reduce. Growth absorbed the workforce: customers up 12%, financing up 28%, assets up 39%2. What has not happened is the branch rationalisation most European banks completed a decade ago, and PKO still runs 947 of them3.

If the interest margin settles near the roughly 3% reference rate its own 2027 strategy assumes4, the cost base has to come down rather than merely stop rising, and that means branches and the people in them. The State Treasury owns 29,43%5, and closures fall hardest on smaller towns.

Nothing is forcing the decision today. Cost-to-income is 31,1%6 and the bank is earning a 19,5% return on equity.

The network is larger than the branch count alone suggests: 947 branches, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies7, plus 49 corporate branches and 24 regional centres. Every one of them is a lease, a payroll line and a local political question.

Watch administrative expenses in absolute terms rather than the ratio. A bank that needs to shrink its cost base and cannot is the shape of the problem, and it would appear as flat expenses against falling income long before any closure was announced.

References
  1. ReportedPKO has held employment almost constant — 25 657 to 26 252 across five years — which is impressive while the business is growing and becomes a different problem when it is not.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - market position, distribution network and staff (PKO described as the largest commercial bank in Poland and the leading bank on its home market in terms of the scale of operations, with the most recognised brand among banks; 947 branches against 975, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies, 26 252 employees against 25 657 and a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate, the corporate network of 49 branches and 24 regional centres, seven voivodeship budgets, and the foreign branches and representative offices in Stockholm and Vilnius) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedGrowth absorbed the workforce: customers up 12%, financing up 28%, assets up 39%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the customer base (12 460 thousand customers against 11 120 thousand five years earlier, 9 764 thousand current accounts, and more than 8,7 million active installations of the IKO mobile application) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedWhat has not happened is the branch rationalisation most European banks completed a decade ago, and PKO still runs 947 of them.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - market position, distribution network and staff (PKO described as the largest commercial bank in Poland and the leading bank on its home market in terms of the scale of operations, with the most recognised brand among banks; 947 branches against 975, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies, 26 252 employees against 25 657 and a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate, the corporate network of 49 branches and 24 regional centres, seven voivodeship budgets, and the foreign branches and representative offices in Stockholm and Vilnius) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedIf the interest margin settles near the roughly 3% reference rate its own 2027 strategy assumes, the cost base has to come down rather than merely stop rising, and that means branches and the people in them.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the efficiency and quality ratios (return on equity of 19,5%, return on assets of 1,9%, a cost-to-income ratio of 31,1%, net interest margin of 4,76%, cost of credit risk of 0,30% and impaired exposures at 3,34% of the portfolio) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe State Treasury owns 29,43%, and closures fall hardest on smaller towns.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - capital, shareholders and levies (the State Treasury holding 367 918 980 shares or 29,43% of the capital and votes, Nationale Nederlanden at 7,32% and Allianz Polska at 6,01%, own funds of 50 122m złoty, a total capital ratio of 17,10%, the 75% dividend payout from the 2025 profit, and the 1 349m złoty tax on certain financial institutions) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedCost-to-income is 31,1% and the bank is earning a 19,5% return on equity.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the efficiency and quality ratios (return on equity of 19,5%, return on assets of 1,9%, a cost-to-income ratio of 31,1%, net interest margin of 4,76%, cost of credit risk of 0,30% and impaired exposures at 3,34% of the portfolio) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedThe network is larger than the branch count alone suggests: 947 branches, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies, plus 49 corporate branches and 24 regional centres.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - market position, distribution network and staff (PKO described as the largest commercial bank in Poland and the leading bank on its home market in terms of the scale of operations, with the most recognised brand among banks; 947 branches against 975, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies, 26 252 employees against 25 657 and a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate, the corporate network of 49 branches and 24 regional centres, seven voivodeship budgets, and the foreign branches and representative offices in Stockholm and Vilnius) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026