Munich (dpa / lby) – The Bavarian Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken benefited from the boom in real estate loans and the demand for shares last year. Their operating profit rose by almost 6 percent to 1.6 billion euros, as the new President of the Bavarian Cooperative Association (GVB), Gregor Scheller, said in Munich on Thursday. For the current year he dared not make any predictions.
Lending business with companies and private customers rose by 9 percent to 127 billion euros last year. “The real estate business was the main driver of growth in lending.” Rising construction and material costs resulted in higher financing sums. At the same time, interest rate security was required for a long time.
Thanks to the growth in new lending business, the Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken were able to stop the decline in net interest income for the first time since 2014. Net interest income increased slightly by EUR 25 million to EUR 2.9 billion. The cooperative association sees the inflation with concern, said Scheller. He hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) “does not miss the right time to exit its ultra-loose monetary policy.”
The managed customer investment volume rose by 9 percent to almost 263 billion euros. The Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken achieved a record turnover of a good 22 billion euros in brokered securities, shares and funds. As a result, their commission income grew by seven percent to 1.3 billion euros. “The banks are expanding their commission business and making themselves less dependent on interest rate developments,” said Scheller.
The institutes kept their costs almost stable. With further standardization and automation, there is great potential for further savings, said the head of the association. Pure services at the counter are becoming less important: half of the customers use online banking or an app for their daily financial transactions. At the same time, the importance of branches that offer comprehensive advice is increasing. The Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken have 1908 branches in the Free State.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220310-99-460196/2
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