14.05.2008
DVB Group posts profitable start into 2008: Continued strong new Transport Finance business
DVB Group's net interest income and net fee and commission income for the first quarter of 2008 outperformed the levels achieved in the same quarter of the previous year. Profit from ordinary activities before tax amounted to EUR 31.5 million for the first quarter of the current business year, down 7.6% (Q1 2007: EUR 34.1 million). The figure for the first quarter of the previous year was influenced by the sale of a fund investment.
Mr. Wolfgang F. Driese, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of DVB Bank AG, summarised the Bank's first-quarter results: "We experienced a strong development in our Transport Finance business during the first three months. Typically, the focus during the first quarter is on preparing – rather than closing – transactions: this relationship tends to be reversed in the fourth quarter. These are good signs for DVB's performance during the remainder of the current year, for which I do remain optimistic. Thanks to our business model, we are not directly affected by the financial markets crisis. The indirect impact – in the form of higher refinancing costs – is passed on in full when originating new business."
Individual operating result items developed as follows: net interest income after loan losses totalled EUR 49.6 million, up 25.3% on the previous year's figure of EUR 39.6 million. Net fee and commission income increased by 20.5%, to EUR 13.5 million. Both operating result items reflect the strong growth of the Transport Finance business. Net income from financial instruments in accordance with IAS 39 decreased to EUR -0.9 million (Q1 2007: EUR 12.6 million). It should be noted that the figure for the first quarter of the previous year was influenced by the sale of a fund investment.
General administrative expenses only rose slightly, by 3.2% to EUR 32.2 million. Staff expenses increased by 5.7 %, to EUR 18.6 million. The Bank hired additional Transport Finance and Investment Management experts to boost its worldwide business activities. The number of active employees in the DVB Group increased to 502 (up 28.7%, compared to 390 as at 31 March 2007). Non-staff expenses remained virtually unchanged, at EUR 13.7 million (+EUR 0.1 million).
DVB Bank AG reported total assets of EUR 12.8 billion (31 Dec 2007: EUR 13.1 billion). The 2.7% decrease was due to flows around the reporting date. DVB's nominal customer lending (the aggregate of loans and advances to customers, guarantees and indemnities, and irrevocable loan commitments) totalled EUR 13.85 billion – down 3.6% from the year-end 2007 (31 Dec 2007: EUR 14.37 billion). The further appreciation of the euro versus the US dollar more than absorbed the underlying growth in US dollar customer lending. In fact, customer lending in US dollar terms showed an increase of 3.5% to USD 21.91 billion, compared to the year-end 2007 (USD 21.16 billion).
DVB has applied the Advanced Approach under Basel II to calculate capital ratios since the beginning of 2008. This has provided significant relief in terms of risk-weighted assets to be included, increasing the core capital ratio to 11.9%, and the total capital ratio to 17.3%.
Based on the previous regulatory framework (Basel I), the core capital ratio remained stable, at 6.4% (31 Dec 2007: 6.4%), whilst the total capital ratio stood at 9.6% (9.4%).
Return on equity before tax (RoE) and the cost/income ratio (CIR), the two key strategic indicators employed by DVB Group, showed a significant effect (measured according to IFRS) resulting from the change in net income from financial instruments in accordance with IAS 39, as discussed above: return on equity for the first quarter of 2008 was 18.7% (Q1 2007: 23.3%), whilst the cost/income ratio rose by 9.6 percentage points, to 57.3% (47.7%).
Based on German GAAP (HGB), the two indicators were clearly less sensitive to the basis effect in net income from financial instruments, and were largely stable, with RoE of 20.6% (down by 1.5 percentage points) and CIR up slightly (by 1.9 percentage points) to 49.9%. Both indicators (based on German GAAP) were thus in line with DVB Group's long-term targets.
DVB Bank AG - Group Consolidated Income Statement (as at 31/03/2008)
DVB Bank AG - Consolidated Balance Sheet (as at 31/03/2008)
Note to Editors:
DVB Bank AG, based in Frankfurt/Main, is an international advisory bank and finance house that specialises in the global transport market. DVB offers integrated financing solutions and advisory services in respect of Shipping, Aviation, and Land Transport. The Bank operates out of offices in Frankfurt/Main, Bergen/Oslo, Cardiff, Curaçao, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, New York, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Singapore, Tokyo, and Zurich. DVB Bank AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE0008045501).
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Borislav Bjelicic, Phone +49 69 9750-4390, Fax +49 69 9750-4333, DVB Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Corporate Communications, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 2-14, 60325 Frankfurt/Main, Germany, borislav.bjelicic@dvbbank.com, www.dvbbank.com
Mr. Wolfgang F. Driese, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of DVB Bank AG, summarised the Bank's first-quarter results: "We experienced a strong development in our Transport Finance business during the first three months. Typically, the focus during the first quarter is on preparing – rather than closing – transactions: this relationship tends to be reversed in the fourth quarter. These are good signs for DVB's performance during the remainder of the current year, for which I do remain optimistic. Thanks to our business model, we are not directly affected by the financial markets crisis. The indirect impact – in the form of higher refinancing costs – is passed on in full when originating new business."
Individual operating result items developed as follows: net interest income after loan losses totalled EUR 49.6 million, up 25.3% on the previous year's figure of EUR 39.6 million. Net fee and commission income increased by 20.5%, to EUR 13.5 million. Both operating result items reflect the strong growth of the Transport Finance business. Net income from financial instruments in accordance with IAS 39 decreased to EUR -0.9 million (Q1 2007: EUR 12.6 million). It should be noted that the figure for the first quarter of the previous year was influenced by the sale of a fund investment.
General administrative expenses only rose slightly, by 3.2% to EUR 32.2 million. Staff expenses increased by 5.7 %, to EUR 18.6 million. The Bank hired additional Transport Finance and Investment Management experts to boost its worldwide business activities. The number of active employees in the DVB Group increased to 502 (up 28.7%, compared to 390 as at 31 March 2007). Non-staff expenses remained virtually unchanged, at EUR 13.7 million (+EUR 0.1 million).
DVB Bank AG reported total assets of EUR 12.8 billion (31 Dec 2007: EUR 13.1 billion). The 2.7% decrease was due to flows around the reporting date. DVB's nominal customer lending (the aggregate of loans and advances to customers, guarantees and indemnities, and irrevocable loan commitments) totalled EUR 13.85 billion – down 3.6% from the year-end 2007 (31 Dec 2007: EUR 14.37 billion). The further appreciation of the euro versus the US dollar more than absorbed the underlying growth in US dollar customer lending. In fact, customer lending in US dollar terms showed an increase of 3.5% to USD 21.91 billion, compared to the year-end 2007 (USD 21.16 billion).
DVB has applied the Advanced Approach under Basel II to calculate capital ratios since the beginning of 2008. This has provided significant relief in terms of risk-weighted assets to be included, increasing the core capital ratio to 11.9%, and the total capital ratio to 17.3%.
Based on the previous regulatory framework (Basel I), the core capital ratio remained stable, at 6.4% (31 Dec 2007: 6.4%), whilst the total capital ratio stood at 9.6% (9.4%).
Return on equity before tax (RoE) and the cost/income ratio (CIR), the two key strategic indicators employed by DVB Group, showed a significant effect (measured according to IFRS) resulting from the change in net income from financial instruments in accordance with IAS 39, as discussed above: return on equity for the first quarter of 2008 was 18.7% (Q1 2007: 23.3%), whilst the cost/income ratio rose by 9.6 percentage points, to 57.3% (47.7%).
Based on German GAAP (HGB), the two indicators were clearly less sensitive to the basis effect in net income from financial instruments, and were largely stable, with RoE of 20.6% (down by 1.5 percentage points) and CIR up slightly (by 1.9 percentage points) to 49.9%. Both indicators (based on German GAAP) were thus in line with DVB Group's long-term targets.
DVB Bank AG - Group Consolidated Income Statement (as at 31/03/2008)
DVB Bank AG - Consolidated Balance Sheet (as at 31/03/2008)
Note to Editors:
DVB Bank AG, based in Frankfurt/Main, is an international advisory bank and finance house that specialises in the global transport market. DVB offers integrated financing solutions and advisory services in respect of Shipping, Aviation, and Land Transport. The Bank operates out of offices in Frankfurt/Main, Bergen/Oslo, Cardiff, Curaçao, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, New York, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Singapore, Tokyo, and Zurich. DVB Bank AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE0008045501).
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Borislav Bjelicic, Phone +49 69 9750-4390, Fax +49 69 9750-4333, DVB Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Corporate Communications, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 2-14, 60325 Frankfurt/Main, Germany, borislav.bjelicic@dvbbank.com, www.dvbbank.com