Press release of Nov. 14, 2012

  • Pre-tax earnings of €146 million in the third quarter (2011: €-132 million)
  • Sharp increase in earnings before taxes to €393 million in the first nine months (2011: €12 million)
  • Growth in new business in key product areas
  • Risks reduced, capital position strengthened

Deutsche Postbank AG has generated earnings before taxes of €393 million after the first nine months of 2012 following €12 million in the same period of the previous year. Earnings after taxes stood at €329 million (previous year: €6 million). Pre-tax earnings totaled €146 million in the third quarter (previous year: €-132 million). "In view of the challenging level of interest rates, we attribute this sound earnings figure to various factors. We have expanded our customer business in key areas and reduced our costs. We have also further reduced the bank's capital market risks and improved our equity position. Finally, we have reduced our costs and moved forward with our integration into the Deutsche Bank Group", stated Frank Strauss, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bonn-based Bank.

Postbank has made good progress in customer business. New installment loan business increased by just under 15% year-on-year to €1.25 billion. The bank also carried on growing in private mortgage lending. Including home savings loans paid out, new business in the first three quarters increased by 10% year-on-year to €6.6 billion. Accordingly, holdings in private mortgage loans rose to €74.2 billion, up by €0.2 billion on the year-end figure. The "Gold-Sparen" savings product launched at the beginning of October has also been highly successful. Since its launch, the bank has generated savings deposits of over €300 million from this product alone, which helps savers to benefit from rising gold prices.

Postbank further reduced its capital market risks and increased its tier 1 capital ratio by 0.5 percentage points to 11.3% as against the end of 2011. It completely eliminated its exposure to Greek government bonds in the third quarter.

Postbank has reduced its costs. Administrative expenses in the first three quarters were down 6.5% on the corresponding figure for the previous year, which was characterized by non-recurring effects. Postbank is also making good progress with its integration into the Deutsche Bank Group. Since the beginning of November, both companies have been using the same core bank software in several departments. This represents another milestone in the construction of the joint technology and processing platform "Magellan". The sale of Postbank's asset management arm to the DWS Group was completed in the third quarter as planned.

Statement of comprehensive income
In the first nine months of 2012, net interest income amounted to €2,052 million, down €105 million on the same period of the previous year. This development is mainly due to interest rates remaining very low.

Net trading income totaled €-71 million in the first three quarters of 2012, thus falling by €72 million year-on-year.

Net income from investment securities amounted to €27 million compared with €-449 million in the previous year.

Net fee and commission income for the first nine months of 2012 stood at €880 million, down on the corresponding prior-year figure of €951 million as expected.

The allowance for losses on loans and advances amounted to €286 million and was therefore virtually unchanged from the first nine months of 2011 (€281 million). This stable development is attributable to the sound portfolio structure in international commercial real-estate financing as well as private customer lending with its significant share of highly collateralized German real-estate financing.

After the first three quarters of 2012, administrative expenses totaled €2,210 million (previous year: €2,363 million).

Statement of financial position
Postbank's total assets amounted to €199.1 billion on September 30, 2012, compared with €192.0 billion at the end of the past fiscal year and €196.5 billion on June 30, 2012.

Balance sheet equity increased by €429 million against the end of 2011 to €6,138 million. The tier 1 capital ratio stood at 11.3%.

Outlook
Postbank continues to expect that it will generate considerably positive results in the current fiscal year and beyond, and that it will expand its market position in business with retail, business and corporate clients. The bank intends to further advance the diminution of its balance-sheet-related risks in the fourth quarter.

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