|
"Aareal Bank concluded the financial year 2007 with the best result in its corporate history. According to preliminary, unaudited figures, consolidated net income after minority interest totalled € 290 million, up 171% year-on-year, and equivalent to a 25.0 % net return on equity after taxes.
Consolidated operating profit soared by 138%, to € 380 million (2006: € 160 million). A significant improvement in operating results contributed to this increase: excluding special effects of € 221 million (2006: € 27 million), these were up by 20 per cent.
Consolidated operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2007 amounted to € 27 million (Q4 2006: € 38 million). This decrease was due predominantly to a € 20 million net trading loss, which reflected the marking to market of securities portfolios in line with changed market conditions. At approximately € 16 million, these write-downs were attributable to asset-backed securities (ABS) and bank bonds in equal proportions. Net trading income also regularly includes ongoing expenditure for the bank’s own securitisations; these amounted to € 2.5 million.
The remaining € 1.5 million was attributable to stand-alone derivatives, government debt issued by EU member states, and interest payments. The fact that the mark-to-market charges were manageable demonstrated that Aareal Bank’s cautious risk policy once again paid off during the fourth quarter.
Aareal Bank Group has no direct or indirect exposure to the US sub-prime market, nor does it hold any investments in Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) or US Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (US RMBS). Furthermore, Aareal Bank holds no securities which are backed by US monoline insurers.
Thanks to its outstanding results for the year, Aareal Bank maintained its core capital ratio as at 31 December 2007 at 7.3 per cent, unchanged from the previous year. Average risk-weighted assets rose to € 21 billion (2006: € 19 billion).
At € 11.7 billion, new business originated in the Structured Property Financing segment outperformed the target of € 10 billion by 17%. Net provisions for loan losses of € 77 million for the segment were below the € 80 to 90 million range projected for the full year 2007 – clear evidence of the high quality of Aareal Bank’s financing portfolio.
Operating profit in the Consulting/Services segment rose nearly four-fold, to € 30 million in the financial year under review. Outperforming the projected target range of € 22 million to € 28 million, the segment has evolved into an increasingly important source of income. (stralcio dal CS della Società)
|
