De Volksbank posts first-half 2018 net profit of € 149 million

Commercial developments

• New mortgages: market share in mortgages higher at 7.5% (2017: 6.8%); 12% increase in new mortgage production to € 2.9 billion (first-half 2017: € 2.6 billion)
• Mortgage portfolio: retail mortgage portfolio grew by € 880 million to € 46.7 billion (year-end 2017: € 45.9 billion)
• Current accounts: market share in new current accounts of 23% (2017: 20%); net growth current account customers of 33,000 to 1.44 million
• Savings: 2% growth in retail savings to € 37.7 billion; market share of 10.6% (2017: 10.7%)

Financial performance

• Result: net profit of € 149 million: a decrease compared to the first half of 2017 (€ 187 million); slight increase compared to the second half of 2017 (€ 142 million)
• Income: decrease in total income by € 49 million to € 480 million, due to lower realised results on fixed-income investments (exceptionally high in the first half of 2017) and 4% lower net interest income; slight increase in interest margin and net interest income (+2%) compared to the second half of 2017
• Expenses: operating expenses excluding regulatory levies € 1 million higher at € 272 million; 6% decrease compared to the second half of 2017; impact efficiency measures and lower non-credit risk related provisions partly offset by higher expenses for regulatory and compliance-related projects and increased commercial activities
• Impairment charges: net release of provisions for loans of € 16 million (first-half 2017: € 20 million; second half of 2017: € 4 million) due to improved economic conditions and outlook
• Capital position: the Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 34.3% (year-end 2017: 34.1%), and the leverage ratio at 5.2% (year-end 2017: 5.5%)

Banking with a human touch

Good progress on initiatives to optimise shared value:

• Customers: improvement in customer-weighted Net Promoter Score to 0 (year-end 2017: -3)
• Society: 33% climate-neutral balance sheet (year-end 2017: 27%); introduction Financial Confidence Barometer and objective for financial resilience
• Employees: decrease in employee Net Promoter Score to -14 (year-end 2017: -2); commitment and engagement stable at 7.7 and 7.4 respectively
• Shareholder: return on equity of 8.5% against a target of 8% (first-half 2017: 10.5%)