Despite the turbulence on the capital markets in 2007, Deutsche Postbank International S.A. (PBI) in Luxembourg once again succeeded in generating excellent earnings. Profit before taxes grew by 1.7% to €72.7 million in comparison with the previous year. The bank also boosted its core business areas.

Interest income grew year-on-year by 29.5% to €74.2 million. Net fee and commission income rose by 29.2% to €14.6 million. Effects from the turbulence on the capital markets on the income statement were only slight. These effects led to a decline in Financial and other income of – €4.0 million. This figure amounted to €7.3 million in the previous year.

Provisions for losses on loans fell by 30.9% to €4.7 million. This is particularly good news due to the fact that the loan portfolio grew significantly in the same period. Administrative expenses amounted to €22.3 million compared to €18.3 million in the previous year. This increase is chiefly due to an expansion in personnel necessary for the growing business in personal financial advice and in products for hedging interest and currency risks. At year-end, PBI had 162 employees. At the end of 2006, this figure had been 143 employees.

Private client business diversified and expanded
PBI has expanded its core business area of advisory and support services for private clients. At the beginning of November 2007, the company launched three new Postbank Vermögensmanagement Plus sectoral funds. The aim of this new form of investment is an asset investment that makes investment decisions based on risk-relevant parameters, emphasizing the security that active management can provide. Within the first two months, around €200 million in cash inflow was generated.

Growth in the corporate client business
PBI also posted growth in its second core business, the corporate client business. The principal area of growth was in interest and currency management for clients from SMEs. PBI also posted an increase in new loans business with corporate clients. In total, the customer credit portfolio climbed by over 40% to €2.6 billion.

With total assets amounting to €16.3 billion (as at December 31, 2007; previous year: €17.4 billion), PBI is one of the largest banks in Luxembourg. The bank has equity of €671 million.

PBI figures based on Luxembourg basis of accounting