With a pre-tax profit of Euro 234 million, Postbank has – for the fiscal year 2000 – presented its best results to date. Prof. Dr. Wulf von Schimmelmann, Chairman of the Deutsche Postbank AG Board of Directors: ”We have achieved a lot and implemented important strategies. With the swift and smooth integration of DSL Bank, we have been able to achieve an enormous increase in competence, which considerably improves our strategic position within the banking market. This was associated with a long-term push in growth.” Von Schimmelmann continues: ”The fiscal year 2000 creates a qualitatively and quantitatively sound foundation on which we will be able to build over the course of the coming years. We will systematically continue along the path we have laid.” On the basis of the on-target result for the first quarter of 2001, the Chairman of the Board of Directors – when addressing journalists in Frankfurt on Monday – was very confident that the results of the previous year would be considerably exceeded.

Many paths lead to Postbank
Von Schimmelmann emphasised that the Postbank multi-channel sales policy was also extremely important for the fiscal year 2000. Postbank offers private and business customers its product portfolio via numerous channels: through branches of Deutsche Post, via consultants, online, per telephone, or by mail. ”Access to branches remains the most important channel for our customers”, stated von Schimmelmann. Around three-quarters of all business is conducted through the stationary Deutsche Post network. ”The Postbank-typical sales structure is characterised by the fact that we are present in all sales channels.” More than two-and-a-half million customers utilise Postbank’s electronic sales channels.

In online banking, Postbank was able to record a further increase of 150,000 accounts for the fiscal year 2000. With 810,000 online customers, Postbank is one of the market leaders in Germany. The number of telephone banking customers grew by 250,000 and now lies at just under 1.5 million. This also represents a market-leading position. With the foundation of ”Postbank Easytrade”, Postbank was about to expand this market position by a further 280,000 online customers, while prudently supplementing its multi-channel strategy with WAP banking.

Growth in current accounts / shift in savings
With 3.63 million accounts, Postbank was able to increase considerably the number of private current accounts for the first time in many years. There was an increase of 80,000 accounts. This positive development continued into the first quarter of 2001, with a further 20,000 new accounts. As a result of Postbank joining the Cash Group, Postbank is now able to offer a further benefit. Since April 2001, customers have not only been able to withdraw cash free of charge from the 2,200 Postbank ATMs, they have also been able to access the 5,400 Cash Group ATMs.

As in the case of the overall market, Postbank also registered a decrease in classical savings products of Euro 3 billion to Euro 31 billion. As a result of shifts to other savings products such as Kapital plus and an increased demand for investment funds, Postbank was able to correct this development to a certain extent. Von Schimmelmann said: ”The view of low interest rates that savers have had for many years now is starting to have an effect. We have to make up for lost ground with innovative and customer-oriented forms of savings.”

One example mentioned by the Chairman of the Board of Directors was the new Postbank DAX Savings Book, which offers the security and liquidity of a savings account with the potential returns of the German stock exchange. Based on a fixed interest rate, Postbank pays a year-average bonus of 50 percent of the monthly DAX increases. Savers are not affected by DAX losses. In the event of negative development, savers continue to receive the basic interest rate, which – for DM 10,000 – is 2 percent. ”The fact that we are right on track with this product innovation is reflected in the interest shown by customers: within just under a month, postings were already Euro 40 million”, according to von Schimmelmann.

At the same time, Postbank launched an investment fund offensive in the first half of 2001, with which it offers its customers various funds for all areas of interest and risk suitability and would like to considerably increase the product recognition of the funds. At the end of the year, the volume of the Postbank funds amount to almost Euro 3.5 billion, with a total of 510,000 investment accounts.

Von Schimmelmann described the emergence of Postbank Easytrade as a highlight of the reporting year – from the view of private customers. From the very launch, the Postbank’s direct broker was able to establish itself in the top group of German brokers with a remarkable 280,000 portfolios. In the medium-term, Postbank plans – with Easytrade – to become the leading supplier of stocks and shares. To this end, Postbank will add a new dimension to cross selling. ”One customer, one account, one portfolio is our concept, whereby we plan to provide our customers access – from a single source – to a comprehensive range of banking and securities services”, emphasised von Schimmelmann.

Business customer bank for money and logistics solutions
Postbank plans to increasingly establish itself in the area of business customers. Its initiative in this sector was able to provide a massive drive forward in 2000. Von Schimmelmann: ”With the integration of DSL Bank, we have been able to considerably gain competence and recognition in this area. With almost 400,000 business customers, Postbank has an excellent customer base, which – in contrast to other banks – it regards as an opportunity for their core business.”

Postbank is striving towards above-average growth, which it plans to achieve by expanding its product range, utilising the DSL Bank synergies, the entry into new business fields within the Deutsche Post World Net group – focussing on e-commerce and logistics financing – and the activation of existing customer connections. ”It is, above all, the integration into the Deutsche Post World Net group that will open up additional potential within the logistics sector. For this reason, it is our vision to become the business customer bank for money and logistics solutions”, explained von Schimmelmann.

The strategic objective of the Deutsche Post World Net group, to be a ”globally leading provider of integrated logistics and financial services through tailor-made solutions along the value chain”, is being systematically implemented by Postbank. It is taking advantages of synergies within the Group, i.e. for the leasing business – which it has recently started offering – offers specific logistics financing and is establishing a uniform sales structure for logistics and financial services.

Postbank plans to make its mark particularly with small and medium-sized business customers. While these customers are – due to the low revenues – frequently unattractive to other banks, in this area Postbank can, as a retail bank, build on the experience gained through its approximately 10 million private customers. Postbank’s initiative is obviously being met with a positive resonance. With the account model Business-Giro, introduced at the end of last year/beginning of this year, Postbank is able to halt the negative trend registered over the course of the past few years and has been able to activate existing accounts. At the end of 2000, there were a total of 375,000 accounts and the objective for 2001 is to maintain this figure and initiate a turnaround next year.

Von Schimmelmann was positive when describing the fiscal year 2000: ”The foundations for a successful future for the ”new” Postbank have been laid: we have a financial statement for 2000, with which we can be very satisfied and on which we can continue on our quest for success. The fiscal year 2001 promises to top the previous year. Postbank has been able to successfully position itself as a multi-channel bank for private and business customers. In terms of pricing and scope, our product range is more than competitive. And let us not forget: Within the Deutsche Post World Net group, we are entering – with logistics financing – a dynamically growing market, which will provide great pleasure in the future.”

Business performance 2000
Considerable increases of most income items within the profit and loss account as well as lower HR costs and a reduction in the credit risk measures have resulted in the best business performance in the history of Postbank.

For the fiscal year 2000, Postbank was able to achieve a considerably higher interest surplus of Euro 1.65 billion (Euro +318 million). For a more or less constant average volume, the interest margin was improved, a particular reflection of the altered statement structure. The net commissions received grew to Euro 448 million (Euro +47 million). The trading result is Euro 5 million, following Euro 3.5 million for the previous year.

With Euro 1.8 billion the overall administrative costs were Euro 186 million higher than for the previous year. HR costs fell by Euro 113 million to Euro 604 million. This is a reflection of the decreasing number of employees. Postbank was able to reduce the number of employees, in a socially friendly manner, to a year-average of 10,943 (-12,6%). Furthermore, there was a considerable drop in benefits for civil servants.

Operating expenses increased by Euro 202 million to Euro 1 billion. This increase was predominantly the result of increased Deutsche Post sales services as well as the integration of the operations of Postbank Easytrade.AG and Postbank Systems AG. Provisions against contingencies are just below Euro 76 million (previous year: Euro 59 million).

The pre-tax result is Euro 234 million (Euro 80 million), with the private customer division contributing Euro 117 million, business customers Euro 50 million and Financial Markets Euro 49 million. Following deduction of taxes, net profit is Euro 149 million.

Total assets Euro 134 billion
Following the merger with DSL Bank, the Postbank Group statement assets have a very different structure. Total assets were reduced in comparison to the pro-forma statement assets of the previous year by Euro 12 billion to Euro 134 billion. Decisive for this reduction was, in particular, the liquidation of money and capital market assets and the loans taken out from the money and capital markets.

The volume of bonds has increased over the previous year (Euro 17 billion) to Euro 50 billion. For the first time, this figure includes the bond portfolios of the special funds at around Euro 7.3 billion, the other portfolios were reduced by Euro 7.4 billion. Share and other variable-interest share portfolios were reduced by Euro 6.4 billion to Euro 1.1 billion. This reduction is a result of the consolidation of the special funds contained within this item for the previous year.

Payables to credit institutes fell by Euro 11 billion to Euro 38 billion. Overall, receivables from customers amounted to Euro 39.3 billion (Euro 3.8 billion).

The customer and issuing businesses determine the liabilities of the Postbank statement. Liabilities to customers increased to Euro 64 billion (Euro 53 billion), hence making up 48 percent of total assets.

Bonded liabilities decreased in the fiscal year 2000 – in comparison to the pro-forma figures – by just under Euro 6 billion to Euro 46.6 billion. Until then, Postbank had not been engaged in the issuing business. This represents a share of almost 35 percent of total assets.

Liabilities versus credit institutes amounted to just under Euro 15 billion (Euro 2.8 billion). This decrease versus the pro-forma figures results from a changed refinancing situation emerging from the merger between Postbank and DSL Bank.

The bank’s declared liable internal funds amounted to Euro 4.5 billion on December 31, 2000 following Euro 4 billion in the previous year.

1st quarter very positive
In the first quarter of 2001, pre-tax profits were Euro 77 million, on a par with the level for the previous year. However, the investments made during the last fiscal year for the expansion programme for Postbank Easytrade and Postbank Systems resulted in lower profits in the second half of the year. The interest surplus increased around 6 percent to Euro 413 million. The net commissions received is almost unchanged at Euro 114 million. With Euro 9 million, the trading result is slightly above target. The overall profits have increased by just under 6 percent over the previous year’s profits to Euro 536 million. With on-target, slightly increased HR and operating costs, the overall administrative costs for the first quarter of 2001 are Euro 442 million (Euro 407 million). Compared to the previous year, total assets have slightly decreased to 133 billion Euro.