DGAP-News: comdirect bank AG

comdirect half-year result: EUR50.9m before taxes -EUR85bn total assets under management

• Growth of assets under management: up EUR9.1bn, of which EUR3.0bn from the acquisition of onvista bank and EUR4.0bn of net fund inflows
• Growth of customer base: up 150 thousand, of which 102 thousand from the acquisition of onvista bank
• cominvest: EUR100m threshold exceeded in invested customer funds
• Profit target for 2017 as a whole: around EUR85m before taxes

Quickborn, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 1 August 2017. The comdirect group closed the first half of 2017 with pre-tax profit of EUR50.9m. The previous year's high value (EUR87.9m) was due to the non-recurring income of around EUR41m before taxes resulting from the membership of Visa Europe and its integration into Visa Inc. USA. Without the exceptional Visa effect, the half-year pre-tax profit is 9% above the previous year. "We've achieved a good result, even given the persistently challenging situation for banks of zero interest rates", says Arno Walter, comdirect bank AG CEO. Pre-tax return on equity stands at 17.4% (previous year: 31.9%). "We have strengthened our position as one of the leading German online brokers with the addition of onvista bank and gained one of the market's most successful platforms with the onvista.de portal. We have introduced cominvest, offering the right digital investment whatever the requirement and will be building on this in the second half of the year. We are aiming for pre-tax profit of around EUR85m for the year as a whole," said Walter. That corresponds to return on equity of over 14%.

Net commission income as main income pillar

Total income in the first six months of the year amounted to EUR184.4m (previous year: EUR216.1m). The main income pillar is net commission income, which at EUR120.2m exceeded the previous year's value (EUR108.4m) by 11%. The integration of onvista bank and onvista media GmbH also contributed to the rise. At 7.9 million, the number of B2C trades in the first half of 2017 was 6% above the previous year (7.5 million). Regarding the persistent zero interest environment, net interest income after provisions for possible loan losses fell 24% from EUR63.0m in the previous year to EUR47.9m. Other income stands at EUR16.3m. This is primarily due to a positive result from financial investments. The high levels of the market indices were used to realise share price gains in own investment. In the previous year (EUR44.6m), other income included the earnings from the Visa transaction.

The administrative expenses of EUR133.5m were 4% above the previous year's figure (EUR128.2m). Reasons for the increase include the rise of other administrative and personnel expenses resulting from the integration of onvista as well as costs for the current sales campaign for cominvest.

Dynamic growth in customer base and assets under management

The number of customers in the B2C business line (comdirect bank AG including division onvista bank) increased by 144 thousand to 2.225 million in the first half-year. The number of custody accounts have risen by 142 thousand to 1.149 million since the start of the year. Of these, 102 thousand customers and custody accounts are the result of the concluded acquisition of onvista bank GmbH as of 3 April 2017. The number of current accounts rose by 38 thousand to 1.394 million. Total assets under management increased in the same period by EUR7.6bn to EUR53.56bn, and the portfolio volume increased by EUR5.1bn to EUR32.9bn. EUR3.0bn of this came from onvista bank GmbH as of 3 April. Net fund inflows amounted to EUR3.4bn.

onvista bank and onvista media GmbH have been a part of the comdirect group since April of this year. The merger of onvista bank GmbH with comdirect bank AG in June of this year has created simple and efficient structures and leveraged initial synergies. Since then, onvista bank is managed under the same name, as a division of comdirect bank.

Top address in saving, investing and trading with securities

"Our strategic positioning as the top address in saving, investing and trading with securities is paying off, as demonstrated by the growth in custody accounts and portfolio volume", said Walter, adding: "With cominvest, comdirect is the first bank in Germany to bring a fully comprehensive robo-advisor onto the market." Customers had already invested over EUR100m between the launch of cominvest in mid-May up to the end of the second quarter. According to Walter, "Securities are an answer to the zero-interest environment. We want to convince even more customers of this by creating offers that make it as simple and convenient as possible to save with securities - whether they are interested in long-term wealth accumulation or actively trading with securities."

The B2B business line (ebase GmbH) slightly increased its customer base in the first half-year to 1.042 million (year-end 2016: 1.036 million). Total assets under management rose to EUR31.32bn (year-end 2016: EUR29.75bn).

The total number of comdirect group customers climbed to 3.267 million in the first half-year, up by 150 thousand. Total assets under management increased by EUR9.1bn to the record level of EUR84.88bn. The portfolio volume rose by EUR6.7bn to EUR63.92bn. EUR3.0bn of this came from onvista bank GmbH as of 3 April. Net fund inflows in the group totalled EUR4.0bn (previous year: EUR4.3bn).

Overview

Contacts for this press release
Annette Siragusano
Tel. +49 (0)41 06 704 1960
Email: annette.siragusano@comdirect.de

Ullrike Hamer
Tel. +49 (0)41 06 704 1545
Email: ullrike.hamer@comdirect.de

Information for editorial teams
You can find more information about business development in the first half of 2017 here: https://www.comdirect.de/cms/ueberuns/de/investorrelations/veroeffentlichungen.html

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