Deutsche Postbank: 35% Rise 2001 Profits

Deutsche Postbank AG, the banking business of German post office Deutsche Post, on Monday reported a 35 percent rise in 2001 net profit and said it aimed to be no less than Germany’s leading bank for private clients. ‘We want to be the bank people think about first when they are thinking about retail banking,’ Postbank Chief Executive Wulf von Schimmelmann said at a news conference. He said the bank also wanted to become a leader in profitability. The unlisted bank, which has some 10 million clients and sells its financial services through almost 13,000 post offices, said full-year 2001 pre-tax profit rose to 343 million euros ($303 million) from 234 million a year earlier, while net profit was up 35 percent to 190 million euros. Group results were boosted by a 13 percent rise in pre-tax profit at its core private clients business to 115.5 million euros. Pre-tax profit at its corporate clients business rose 29 percent to 80.4 million. The bank was more profitable in 2001 than its rivals with a return on equity (ROE) of eight percent compared with only 0.9 percent at Commerzbank and 1.3 percent at Dresdner Bank AG. Schimmelmann said he aimed for a return on equity of just below 10 percent in 2002 and that he was optimistic for the current business year. He did not directly comment on the group’s plans for acquisitions or a possible flotation of Postbank after the initial public offering of its parent Deutsche Post last year