Twenty-Six Thousand People, Barely More Than Five Years AgoNarrow moat

PKO Bank Polski (PKO) — moat facet

Financing per employee rose from 9,7 million złoty to 12,0 million in one year without hiring.

PKO employed 26 252 full-time equivalents at the end of 2025, against 25 657 in 20211 — an increase of 2,3%, over a period in which total assets rose 39% to 583 079 million złoty and customers rose 12%2.

Financing per employee (zl m)9,65202412,032025247 572m zł over 25 657 people, against 315 953m zł over 26 252
The loan book grew 27,6% and headcount grew 2,3%. That is operating leverage arriving without a hiring decision.

That is the clearest single expression of operating leverage in these accounts. Adding 1 340 thousand customers and 68 381 million złoty of financing3 with essentially the same workforce is what a banking franchise does when its distribution is already built and its incremental business arrives through an application with 8,7 million installations4.

It is also a reason to take the efficiency ratio seriously as a structural feature rather than a rates artefact. The headcount discipline is real and predates the high-rate period.

The constraint on it is Polish wages, which have risen fast, and the fact that administrative expenses still grew 11,2% in 20255 despite the flat headcount — the cost per employee is rising even where the number is not.

The bank is also a well-regarded employer, holding a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate6, which matters in a tight labour market.

The bank is also spreading those people over more business every year: financing per employee went from about 9,65 million złoty in 2021 to about 12,03 million in 20257, on a headcount that rose 2,3% while the loan book rose 28%.

Watch employee costs rather than employee numbers. Flat headcount with double-digit cost growth is what wage inflation looks like inside a bank, and it is the mechanism by which a 31% cost-to-income ratio becomes a 35% one.

Moat trajectory: Widening

26 252 employees against 25,657, while financing per employee went from 9,7 million złoty to 12,0 million. That is operating leverage arriving without hiring.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
Financing per employee
12,0m zł, from 9,7m zł a year earlier

Employees rose from 25 657 to 26 252 while the loan book grew 27,6%. That is operating leverage arriving without hiring, and it is the cleanest evidence that the cost discipline is real rather than an artefact of high rates.

Source: PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Flat Headcount Is Easier Before the Branches Close
Holding headcount flat while running 947 branches is a different problem from doing it while closing them.
References
  1. ReportedPKO employed 26 252 full-time equivalents at the end of 2025, against 25 657 in 2021 — an increase of 2,3%, over a period in which total assets rose 39% to 583 079 million złoty and customers rose 12%.
    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 ↗
  2. ReportedPKO employed 26 252 full-time equivalents at the end of 2025, against 25 657 in 2021 — an increase of 2,3%, over a period in which total assets rose 39% to 583 079 million złoty and customers rose 12%.
    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. ReportedAdding 1 340 thousand customers and 68 381 million złoty of financing with essentially the same workforce is what a banking franchise does when its distribution is already built and its incremental business arrives through an application...
    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 ↗
  4. ReportedAdding 1 340 thousand customers and 68 381 million złoty of financing with essentially the same workforce is what a banking franchise does when its distribution is already built and its incremental business arrives through an application...
    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 ↗
  5. ReportedThe constraint on it is Polish wages, which have risen fast, and the fact that administrative expenses still grew 11,2% in 2025 despite the flat headcount — the cost per employee is rising even where the number 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 ↗
  6. ReportedThe bank is also a well-regarded employer, holding a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate, which matters in a tight labour market.
    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 ↗
  7. Moat Explorer calcThe bank is also spreading those people over more business every year: financing per employee went from about 9,65 million złoty in 2021 to about 12,03 million in 2025, on a headcount that rose 2,3% while the loan book rose 28%.
    Moat Explorer calculation - arithmetic on figures PKO reports: the Swiss franc charge as a share of net profit (4 365 over 10 682), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 against 247 572 over 25 657), current accounts as a share of customers (9 764 over 12 460), deposits less financing (460 722 less 315 953), and the levy against fee income (1 349 over 5 243), credit losses excluding legal risk (5 859 less 4 365 = 1 494), the income mix (24 223 and 5 243 over 30 370 = 79,8% and 17,3%), net profit growth (10 682 against 9 304 = 14,8%), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 = 12,0m), and customers against Poland's population (12,46m of 37,33m) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026