DAB Bank : profit before taxes jumps to EUR 48.33 million in financial year 2014

Positive non-recurring effect of EUR 24.90 million resulting from change of majority shareholder and related liquidation of investments / Operating result also much higher

Munich, February 27, 2015.

The DAB Bank Group (Munich) generated a profit before taxes of EUR 48.33 million in financial year 2014, which was more than twice as high as the prior-year result (2013: EUR 19.22 million). This sharp increase resulted particularly from the change of the majority shareholder and the related liquidation of investments with the previous majority shareholder. On December 17, 2014, BNP Paribas Beteiligungsholding AG notified the Management Board of DAB Bank AG that UniCredit Bank AG had transferred its shares in DAB Bank AG to BNP Paribas Beteiligungsholding AG in accordance with the terms of the purchase agreement signed by the parties. Subsequently, the intragroup liabilities of UniCredit Bank AG to the DAB Bank Group were unwinded at fair market terms. Due in particular to the fact that interest rates had declined since the inception of these investments, DAB Bank realized non-recurring income of EUR 25.59 million. At the same time, DAB Bank incurred non-recurring expenses of EUR 0.70 million on this transaction, so that the unwinding of these investments increased the bank's profit before taxes by EUR 24.90 million on balance.

DAB Bank also performed very well in its operating business. Adjusted for the effect described above, the profit before taxes amounted to EUR 23.44 million, reflecting an increase of about 22% over the prior-year result. DAB Bank registered substantial gains in all key operating indicators in 2014. The number of customers rose by around 30,000 to reach 650,549. At EUR 36.37 billion, customer assets held in custody as of 31 December 2014 were almost EUR 4 billion higher than the corresponding prior-year figure, mainly as a result of very strong net fund inflows. Furthermore, DAB Bank executed 5.52 million trades for its customers in 2014, reflecting a substantial increase of 11% over the very high number for 2013. "DAB Bank continued to generate strong operational growth in 2014," said Ernst Huber, Management Board Spokesman of DAB Bank. "Our award-winning checking account, our successful campaign to induce customers to switch their investment holdings to a securities account with DAB Bank, and our attractive offering of products and services for securities trading were among the factors that helped us acquire numerous new customers again last year, and they were even more active than in prior years."

While the net commission income of EUR 85.71 million was little changed from the prior-year figure, net interest income soared from EUR 38.64 to EUR 69.41 million. The unwinding of direct investments previously held with UniCredit Bank AG contributed EUR 21.37 million to this increase of nearly EUR 31 million over the prior-year result. The trading and investment profit of EUR 5.87 million was 8% less than the prior-year figure. This figure also contains a positive non-recurring effect of EUR 4.22 million. DAB Bank continued to practice strict cost discipline in 2014. Despite the non-recurring expense effect of EUR 0.70 million, administrative expenses rose by only slightly less than 2% to EUR 110.84 million, even as total operating income rose by 23%, from EUR 130.27 million in 2013 to EUR 159.99 million in 2014.

The annual shareholders' meeting of DAB Bank AG will be held in Munich on May 29. At this meeting, a resolution will be adopted to transfer the shares held by DAB Bank AG's minority shareholders to BNP Paribas Beteiligungsholding AG as the majority shareholder, in exchange for an appropriate cash settlement. Due to the voluntary public takeover offer by the new majority shareholder, no dividend payments are planned.

The figures stated herein are still preliminary. DAB Bank will publish its Annual Report 2014 containing the final results on March 24, 2015.

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