Both Raiffeisen International and RZB Group more than double their respective H1-consolidated profits. Merger plans for Raiffeisen Bank International fully on track. RBI's pro forma consolidated profit at € 472 million.
Raiffeisen International:
- Consolidated profit in the first six months of 2010 more than
doubles to € 171 million (H1 2009: € 78 million). - Provisioning for impairment losses declines 42 per cent year-on-year to € 560 million (H1 2009: € 969 million).
- Return on equity before tax improves by 3.7 percentage points year-on-year to 8.6 per cent (H1 2009: 4.9 per cent).
RZB Group:
- Consolidated profit rises 139 per cent compared to H1 2009 to € 402 million (H1 2009: € 168 million).
- Provisioning for impairment losses declines by 52 per cent against the same period a year earlier to € 608 million (H1 2009: € 1,267 million).
- Return on equity before tax improves by 0.3 percentage points to 10.4 per cent (H1 2009: 10.1 per cent).
Raiffeisen Bank International:
- Merger plans fully on track; registration in commercial register expected in the fourth quarter.
- Consolidated profit in H1 2010 (on pro forma basis): € 472 million.
- Provisioning for impairment losses (on pro forma basis): € 608 million.
- Return on equity before tax (on pro forma basis): 12.2 per cent.
All figures are based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
"The RZB Group is on a good path. This is evident in its positive earnings development and in the fact the implementation of its optimized group structure is occurring according to plan," said Walter Rothensteiner, CEO of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG. "In the new structure, RZB will focus on its role as the central institution of Austria's Raiffeisen Banking Group and will operate as the group head office of the entire RZB Group. The future Raiffeisen Bank International will bundle together the corporate business RZB had conducted so far with that in Central and Eastern Europe. RBI will be powerful force in banking in its home market, which consists of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, RBI will be the only Austrian bank that it not only represented in the world's financial centres, but also has a strong presence in Asia at nine locations."
Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG, a member of the RZB Group headed by Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB), posted a consolidated profit (after tax and minorities) of € 171 million during the first six months of 2010, which represents an increase of 118.6 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier (H1 2009: € 78 million). The developments in provisioning for impairment losses, which declined by 42.2 per cent year-on-year to € 560 million (H1 2009: € 969 million) in particular had a positive impact on earnings. Profit before tax rose by 97.8 per cent to € 304 million (H1 2009: € 154 million), while profit after tax posted an increase of 78.2 per cent to € 212 million (H1 2009: € 119 million).
"In addition to the positive earnings development for the first half of this year, we have made decisive steps in pushing ahead the merger that will result in Raiffeisen Bank International. On a pro forma basis, Raiffeisen Bank International would have had a halfyear consolidated profit more than 2.5 times larger than that posted by Raiffeisen International. We believe that this will allow us to remain one of the most attractive investment opportunities on the Vienna stock exchange", said Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeisen International and designated CEO of RBI.
Raiffeisen Bank InternationalDate: 31.08.2010