DAB Bank AG : DAB bank’s profit before taxes rises to €16.00 million in the first six months of 2012

DAB bank targets 10% to 15% increase in its profit before taxes for the full year 2012

Munich, July 31, 2012.
The Munich-based DAB bank Group, which operates in Germany and Austria, increased its profit before taxes by 8% to €16.00 million in the first half of 2012 (H1 2011: €14.83 million). It also increased the second-quarter profit before taxes substantially, by 20%, from €6.24 million in the year-ago period to €7.49 million in the second quarter of 2012.

DAB bank's positive performance in the first half was aided in particular by the very good net financial income, which rose from €28.29 million in the year-ago period to €34.34 million in the first half of 2012. The net interest income rose from €25.95 million to €28.02 million. At €6.31 million, the sum of the trading profit and the profit from investments in the first six months of 2012 was considerably higher than the corresponding year-ago figure (H1 2011: €2.34 million).

The high level of cost discipline practiced at DAB bank also produced a positive effect. Despite the further investments made in the product portfolio and IT infrastructure, the administrative expenses of €55.54 million were 2% lower than the corresponding figure for the first six months of 2011.

By contrast, the net commission income declined by almost 15%, from €43.54 in the year-ago period to €37.17 million in the first six months of 2012. Due to the persistent uncertainties affecting financial markets, DAB bank's customers were restrained in their trading activity, placing only 2.22 million trade orders in the period from January to June 2012, as compared to 2.47 million trade orders in the first half of 2011

"Despite the difficulty in predicting the future direction of markets, we are still confident that we will generate a higher profit before taxes in 2012 than in 2011. Subject to the condition of commensurate market trends and customer activity in the second half, we are striving for an increase of 10% to 15%," said Markus Gunter, Speaker of the Management Board of DAB bank. DAB bank had generated a profit before taxes of €25.73 million in financial year 2011.

Compared to June 30, 2011, the number of customers rose by slightly more than 9,000 to 598,278. Also, the number of securities accounts rose slightly to 617,566, while the number of bank accounts rose by more than 24,000 to 169,833. Due to the fact that index levels have fallen, however, the volume of customer assets held in custody has declined since June 2011 to reach €25.65 billion at June 30, 2012. Compared to the end of 2011, however, customer assets have risen by approximately €1.4 billion, due not least of all to substantial net inflows of new customer assets.

A few weeks ago, DAB bank introduced another new product for active traders, LOGOS. "Our LOGOS platform is unique in Germany. It creates a new dimension in trading. Also by means of this new product, DAB bank is positioned as the best bank for investors, traders and assets managers," Markus Gunter said.

* Net financial income = Net interest income before credit risk provisions + trading profit/loss + profit/loss from investments.