Comdirect bank : Strong half-year pre-tax result for comdirect: EUR 43.7m

• Record earnings due to strongest first six months in trading and all-time high in number of customers and assets under custody
• Current account remains number one growth driver
• New online offering "Better financial investments" for everyone: less complexity, more transparency
• Pre-tax profit target for full year 2014: EUR 75m

Quickborn. The comdirect group closed the first six months of 2014 with pre-tax profit of EUR 43.7m (previous year: EUR 43.0m). "This is a strong interim result: while we continue to invest in growth, earnings have reached a new record level. Net interest and commission income have surpassed the previous year's figures, because our investments in growth in earlier years are paying off," says Dr Thorsten Reitmeyer, CEO of comdirect bank AG. "In the second half of the year, we will invest even more in performance and marketing. At the same time, we aim to achieve a good pre-tax result for the year as a whole of EUR 75m," adds Reitmeyer.

In the first six months of the year, the comdirect group generated total income of EUR 175.3m (previous year: EUR 170.3m). One reason for the rise to this record level is the extremely active trading by B2C customers (5.4 million trades). This led to an increase in net commission income of EUR 2.6m to EUR 95.4m (previous year: EUR 92.8m). With market interest rates still low, net interest income after provisions climbed to EUR 71.8m. The increase of EUR 4.6m versus the previous year (EUR 67.2m) stemmed from growth in customer deposits as well as lower provisions for possible loan losses among other factors. At EUR 131.5m, administrative expenses were EUR 4.2m higher than in the previous year (EUR 127.3m). This rise is attributable to the increasing size of the bank as well as investment in further growth.

The B2C business line (comdirect bank AG) sustained the fast pace of growth in the first half of the year and set new records in terms of the number of customers and assets under custody. The number of customers has increased by 23 thousand to 1.85 million since the start of the year. Assets under custody climbed to EUR 33.62bn compared with EUR 31.89bn at the end of 2013. In addition to price effects, net fund inflows of EUR 865m contributed to this growth. With a rise of 42 thousand to 1.09 million customers, the current account remains the strongest growth driver. The number of Tagesgeld PLUS ("daily money plus") accounts increased by 28 thousand to 1.49 million and the number of custody accounts by 12 thousand to 852 thousand.

In the second quarter, comdirect launched its online offering "Better financial investments". The investment assistant enables everyone - including novice investors - to make their own financial decisions. Just a few personal details are required to obtain a structured and comprehensible investment proposal free of charge for one-off investments and now for savings plans starting from EUR 100 as well. Moreover, the focus on cost-effective index funds (ETFs) increases the chances of achieving returns. "This is unique in Germany to date," explains Reitmeyer. "I believe that much of the complexity in financial advice is unnecessary nowadays and we are basing our offering on clarity and transparency instead. This is because investing doesn't have to be daunting, not even for novice securities investors," adds Reitmeyer.

In the B2B business line (ebase GmbH), the number of customers serviced fell by 17 thousand to 985 thousand. The decrease affected the first quarter in particular and stems primarily from the cancellation of custody accounts for capital-building payments and other savings plans that expired at the end of the year. Assets under custody climbed to EUR 23.37bn (year-end: EUR 23.16bn).

At the end of the first half of the year, the total number of customers in the comdirect group stood at 2.83 million and total assets under custody increased to EUR 57.00bn.