LBBW CFO Stefanie Münz offers an financial outlook | EUROtoday

EA Landesbank as a seismograph for financial prosperity: “Demand among companies is collapsing, orders are not coming in, we will soon feel this massively – across all sectors,” says Stefanie Münz in an interview with the FAZ after the annual press convention from Germany's largest state financial institution, the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW).

LBBW boss Rainer Neske isn’t any extra optimistic and confirms his finance director's evaluation. Of course, issues haven't gone badly within the final ten years, fairness has elevated in all places – however “now companies have to worry about their productivity again, they will launch efficiency programs” and within the course of come up towards the hurdles that Germany as a enterprise location places them within the good years have at finest slowed down. “The bad thing is,” explains Neske, “companies are quietly leaving the location, simply by no longer investing here but at their headquarters abroad.”

Good LBBW figures regardless of bleak prospects

Neske's gloomy outlook contrasts with the nice figures that the financial institution introduced in Stuttgart on Wednesday. Profit earlier than taxes in 2023 elevated by greater than 50 % to round 1.4 billion euros. “In times of unprecedented volatility and great tension, our concept as a universal bank has proven to be viable,” defined Neske.

The LBBW boss emphasised that enterprise had developed positively within the financial institution's 4 vital areas. The company buyer enterprise contributed 678 million euros, the true property division 361 million euros, the capital market enterprise 230 million euros and the personal prospects/financial savings banks division 267 million euros to the pre-tax revenue. Overall, LBBW's curiosity revenue rose by 23 % to 2.83 billion euros, whereas fee revenue fell by 6 % to 589 million euros.

Not least due to the uncertainties out there, LBBW, as one of many largest German actual property financiers, has elevated its threat provisions on this space from 168 to 180 million euros. LBBW has issued or assured round 71 billion euros in actual property loans, 63 billion of which relate to industrial actual property alone.

Looking at LBBW's whole lending enterprise, which quantities to 358 billion euros, actual property accounts for round 20 %. The different two giant blocks are loans to insurance coverage corporations, banks and buyers and loans to corporations. The latter “are evenly distributed across all sectors, so we are looking good,” says finance director Münz. Still. Here too, LBBW has elevated its threat provisions in view of its gloomy company forecasts: from 61 to 98 million euros.