Raiffeisen Bank International AG overtook DNB Bank ASA as the most efficient large European lender in the third quarter.

Austria-based RBI reported a cost-to-income ratio — a measure of banks' efficiency — of 36.94%, the lowest among a sample of 34 of Europe's largest banks, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.

RBI was also the biggest improver on a year-over-year basis with a 19.51 percentage point reduction, followed by Deutsche Bank AG, NatWest Group PLC and CaixaBank SA. More than three-quarters of the banks sampled reported improved cost-to-income ratios compared with the year-ago quarter.

RBI's 92.58% year-over-year increase in operating income more than offset rising costs in the third quarter. In addition to higher interest rates, the bank cited lower expenses for customer deposits in Russia and extraordinarily high income from clearing, settlement and payment services in the country as factors for the improved income. RBI is one of the few European banks that retain significant exposure to Russia.

For full year 2022, the bank has guided for a cost-to-income ratio of about 40%.

Nordic lenders DNB, Swedbank AB (publ), Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) and Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) accounted for the four next best spots. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, Finland-headquartered OP Financial Group achieved the biggest reduction in cost-to-income ratio of 20.68 percentage points.

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Danske Bank A/S had the highest cost-to-income ratio in the sample at 201.02%, well over double the figure from the previous quarter and the year-ago period.

The Danish lender posted a net loss of 13.79 billion kroner in the quarter after booking 14 billion kroner in provisions for a resolution of regulatory investigations into an Estonian money-laundering case. Even without the charge, Danske would have been among the least efficient European banks.

Credit Suisse, which announced a major restructuring along with third-quarter results, followed Danske with a cost-to-income ratio of 107.24%, 24.56 percentage points higher than the year prior. It was followed by UBS Group AG, Commerzbank AG, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and Deutsche Bank, all of whom had cost-to-income ratios of more than 70%.