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Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG a mai napon tette közzé 2007. harmadik negyedéves eredményeit |
| 2007.11.23 |
RZB continues on a solid growth path
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Total assets up by 16.9 per cent in the first nine months of 2007, profit before tax for the period climbed 26.5 per cent, and profit after tax and minority interest rose 9.0 per cent.
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) continued to chart a steady course of successful business and strong growth in the first three quarters of 2007. “RZB is building on a strong foundation with its fine strategy that has proved its value under these difficult conditions. As a result, we have once again been successful in boosting our market share and improving our results,” said CEO Walter Rothensteiner.
As of 30 September 2007, RZB's total assets amounted to 135.2 billion euros, an increase of 16.9 per cent compared to year-end-2006. The number of employees rose by more than 8.1 per cent to 59,932, with RZB creating more than 4,500 new jobs in the year to date.
The success of the recent capital increase completed last week highlights the shareholders’ confidence in the Bank’s strategy and the excellent cohesion within the Raiffeisen banking group. All shareholders exercised their subscription rights in full, resulting in another rise of 159 million euros in RZB’s core capital.
Good development of operating activities
Profit before tax for the first nine months of the year increased 26.5 per cent on the same period of the previous year,* rising to EUR 1,166 million euros. This was the first time ever that RZB achieved an operating profit before tax in excess of one billion euros for the first nine months of the business year. After tax, profit amounted to approximately 908 million euros, an increase of 21.2 per cent compared to the same period of 2006,* with profit after tax and minority interest (consolidated profit) up 9.0 per cent to 594 million euros.
“Never before has RZB achieved such a good operating result in the first three quarters. And in light of the current turbulence on the capital markets, this achievement is even more remarkable, underlining the solid strength of our core business,” noted Rothensteiner.
Another positive aspect was the 23.7 per cent decline in provisions for impairment losses, which fell to 217.3 million euros. “This reflects the excellent quality of the RZB loan portfolio,” explained Johann Strobl, Chief Risk Officer since 1 October 2007.
The contribution to results from the CEE subsidiaries operating under the umbrella of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG also continued to be disproportionately high. At the same time, business with domestic customers also developed very well. “The business with Austrian corporate customers is a cornerstone of RZB,” added Rothensteiner.
Bold advances in the corporate banking business
The Corporate Customers business – i.e. business with domestic and international companies which are served from Austria – developed very strongly in the first three quarters as well. Karl Sevelda, Board Member responsible for Corporate Customers at RZB, described the developments, “Year after year, our business with corporate customers has consistently achieved growth rates well above the market average, in a segment that is marked by keen competition in Austria. RZB has boosted its volume of loans by 25 per cent. Compared with the latest data from the OeNB showing an increase of 3 per cent in the first six months of the year, the growth we have achieved is truly impressive.”
One clear sign of the sustained growth in this customer segment is the rise in risk-weighted assets: as of 30 September 2007, assets were up 22 per cent to 14.6 billion euros.
Broader product line
In addition to the existing, established risk hedging strategies in the field of interest rate and currency management, RZB has been offering coverage of commodity risks for several months now. As Patrick Butler, RZB Board Member responsible for Investment Banking, Treasury and Global Markets, noted “The volatility and related price risk on the commodity markets is enormous.” Most companies are aware of the resulting dangers, but up to now there have not really been any adequate options to actively hedge against this kind of risk. As a result, this offer from RZB has been widely greeted by customers. Currently, the strongest demand for this hedging strategy has been registered in the fields of industrial and precious metals, as well as for petroleum-based products.
Robust demand for RZB issues
“We know we are on the right track, and this was confirmed by the success of the capital measures we undertook this year,” explained Butler. ”Investors are trusting others with their money, and so it is only right that they be critical and selective." Indeed, with the extremely unsettled conditions on the financial markets, investors need to be even more careful. “In times like these, a logical, successful business model for capital market financing is a must. We are able to provide just that, and investors around the world have recognized this.” This was underlined by the latest bond issue in October: in a market marked by uncertainty, RZB was able to place its 600 million euros bond is just one-half hour, with demand twice as high. Despite the unsettled conditions, optimum timing of this issue ensured attractive pricing, which was 115 basis points over the reference rate (mid-swap).
Changes in payment transactions
One of the topics that banks have been preparing for in recent years is the transition to the Single European Payments Area, SEPA. Manfred Url, responsible for Transaction Services, IT and Marketing on the Managing Board, had the following comments on this subject: “RZB was one of the banks, which took a pioneering role in this European project right from the very beginning. We wanted to be sure that RZB customers have the option of making SEPA payments from Day 1. And that is exactly what we have done.”
SEPA will have wide-ranging implications for corporate accounting and cash management. Enterprises which currently have operations in several European Union countries expend a great deal of time and energy optimizing their payment flows. Presently, companies must have a local bank connection in the countries where they are active, and must adapt to the various national-level formats and legal conditions. “There will be companies which make the transition to SEPA quite rapidly and press forward with its development in their systems. Other companies which are working on a purely national level may start out more slowly. But RZB and the entire Raiffeisen banking group have already ensured that this transition can be made smoothly for its customers,” explained Url.
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| | Kapcsolódó weboldal |
Sajtókapcsolat |
| Referens: | Gondáné Fischer Zsófia |
| edina.nagy@raiffeisen.hu |
| +36 1 484-4479 |
| Cég: | Raiffeisen Bank |
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