VUB Group loans up by 31%
Bratislava, March 5, 2009 – According to its audited financial statements for 2008 the VUB Group generated a consolidated operating profit of € 253mil. and a net profit of € 168.5mil., both representing a 25% y-o-y rise. The most impressive growth was recorded in Group´s loan portfolio, which rose by 31.3% to € 5.7bn. Last year, VUB Group acquired 165 thousand new clients.
VUB Group operating income in 2008 recorded a substantial growth of 17.0% y-o-y, reaching the level of € 500.9mil. Revenue performance was favourably impacted by strong and steady rise in volume of loans across all segments, as well as in customers’ deposits.
Compared to previous year, the VUB Group´s operating profit, fueled by efficient cost policy, increased by 25.2%. “Despite the extraordinary costs solely related to EURO adoption amounting to € 9.3mil in 2008, we were able to cut the Cost/Income Ratio sharply down to 49.5% from 52,8% the year before.”, said Ignacio Jaquotot, CEO of VUB Bank.
The volume of VUB Group loan portfolio reached € 5.7bn, representing 31.3% y-o-y growth. The mortgage and housing loans continued to grow robustly and recorded increase by 37.1%, which represented the volume exceeding € 2bn at the end of the year. VUB Group consumer loans portfolio, including Consumer Finance Holding business activities, went up by 26.2% reaching the volume of € 870mil.at the end of the period.
The Group continued to grow also in customer deposits, where volumes went up by 19.3%, to reach the level of € 8.1bn. Customer deposits continue to significantly surpass total amount of granted loans. At the end of last year the “loans to deposits” ratio was 69.7%. In essence, €3 in deposits cover each €2 in lending.
“Despite that we consider the year 2008 successful, the Management Board will recommend to the General Meeting, that the whole profit be retained in the Bank, with no dividend payout. This step represents a significant investment of Intesa Sanpaolo in Slovakia and manifests trust of the foreign investor in strength, health and sustained growth of the Slovak economy” said Ignacio Jaquotot. “Retaining the profit in Slovakia, will allow us to create conditions for further development of business activities. At the same time we will prepare the group for the potential negative impacts of the economic crisis.“
Selected financial indicators from the consolidated income statement:
| € mil. | Dec 2008 | Dec 2007 | Change |
| Operating income | 500.9 | 428.0 | 17.0% |
| Operating expenses | (247.9) | (226.0) | 9.7% |
| Operating profit before impairment and provisions | 253.0 | 202.1 | 25.2% |
| Profit before tax | 207.1 | 173.1 | 19.6% |
| Net profit for the year | 168.5 | 135.0 | 24.8% |
| Basic and diluted earnings per share | 13.0 | 10.4 | 25.0% |
| Cost Income Ratio | 49.5% | 52.8% | -330bps |
Selected indicators from the consolidated balance sheet:
| € mil. | Dec 2008 | Dec 2007 | Change |
| Loans to customers | 5 667.8 | 4 315.9 | 31.3% |
| Deposits from customers | 8 129.7 | 6 814.0 | 19.3% |
| Total assets | 11 232.4 | 9 445.9 | 18.9% |
The VUB Group comprises VUB bank and its 100% subsidiaries: Consumer Finance Holding, VUB Asset Management, VUB Factoring and Recovery. The consolidation perimeter also includes VUB shareholdings in leasing company VUB Leasing (70% share) and in VUB Generali DSS (50% share).
VUB is a member of the international banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, that operates in more than 40 countries worldwide. The Bank runs 216 retail branches, 32 corporate branches, 11 mortgage centres across Slovakia and 1 branch in the Czech Republic.
Information for media:
Alena Walterová
Spokeperson and Head of the Press Dept.
Tel.: +421-2-5055 2130
E-mail: awalterova@vub.sk
Róbert Kubinský
Head of Department Planning and Controling
Tel.: +421-2-5055 2310
E-mail: rkubinsky@vub.sk
