25.03.2015 - Annual report published: comdirect confirms its figures for the 2014 financial year

Quickborn. The comdirect group has today published its annual report for the 2014 financial year. The report confirms the figures that were presented at the financial statements press conference in January. The comdirect group finished financial year 2014 with a pre-tax profit of €82.6m (previous year: €80.0m) and therefore significantly exceeded its target of €75m.

Total income amounted to €353.5m. This was €13.6m more than the previous year's high income level of €339.9m. One of the reasons for these record earnings was higher trade figures with B2C customers. A total of 11.1 million orders were executed (previous year: 10.0 million). This led to a €4.9m increase in net commission income to €193.2m (previous year: €188.3m). Net interest income after provisions for possible loan losses likewise increased, improving by €8.3m to €145.5m (previous year: €137.2m). Key factors in this development were the growth in deposits, in particular in current accounts, and the revised customer conditions. Administrative expenses were up €11.0m year-on-year to €270.9m (previous year: €259.9m) due to the bank's growth, investments in the product and service portfolio, and higher regulatory costs.

In the B2C business line (comdirect bank AG), total assets under custody increased from €31.89bn to €34.75bn in 2014. This was above all due to net fund inflows of a good €2bn. The number of customers rose by 86 thousand to a new high of 1.91 million. The number of Tagesgeld PLUS (daily money PLUS) accounts increased by 92 thousand to 1.55 million, while the number of custody accounts rose by 40 thousand to 879 thousand. The most sizeable increase was seen in the number of current accounts, which rose by 115 thousand to 1.16 million.

The B2B business line (ebase GmbH) had a total of 983 thousand customers (year-end 2013: 1.00 million). Total assets under custody increased to €24.19bn (year-end 2013: €23.16bn).

The proposed dividend is 40 cents per share (previous year: 36 cents). In total, €56.5m (previous year: €50.8m) are to be distributed. The shareholders will therefore benefit from the increase in earnings after taxes totalling €66.3m (previous year: €60.5m). This increase stems from an exceptional effect caused by the reversal of a provision relating to a tax audit. €9.8m will be allocated to retained earnings to strengthen the equity base for continued growth.

What makes the new annual report so special is that it has been designed for tablet devices - the latest technological possibilities offered by mobile media are therefore being systematically used and further developed. Parallax scrolling, for example, has been used. In terms of content, the report supports the current brand campaign of "Bank. Re-envisioned.", with its overarching idea that a customer can directly access banking services tailored to them, whenever and wherever. This is illustrated by parallax scrolling: by swiping or scrolling, the comdirect products and services visualised come towards the customer - wherever the customer may be.

The annual report can now be accessed at www.comdirect.de/ir


Overview Q4/13 €'000 Q1/14 €'000 Q2/14 €'000 Q3/14 €'000 Q4/14 €'000
Net interest income after provisions 34,006 34,854 36,905 37,407 36,358
Net commission income 49,050 51,573 43,787 47,139 50,651
Other income 3,308 2,510 5,635 1,578 5,076
Administrative expenses 72,353 64,808 66,728 64,908 74,408
Pre-tax profit 14,011 24,129 19,599 21,216 17,677
After-tax profit 11,944 17,875 14,494 15,448 18,473
Overview 2013
€'000 		2014
€'000 		2014 vs 2013
Net interest income after provisions 137,212 145,524 6.1 %
Net commission income 188,330 193,150 2.6 %
Other income 14,356 14,799 3.1 %
Administrative expenses 259,866 270,852 4.2 %
Pre-tax profit 80,032 82,621 3.2 %
After-tax profit 60,534 66,290 9.5 %
distributed by