comdirect: result up 19% to over EUR 21m - customer assets reach record level at EUR 37.5bn

Quickborn, 27.04.2010

Quickborn, Frankfurt/Main. comdirect bank (www.comdirect.de) closed the first quarter of 2010 with pre-tax profit of EUR 21.2m (previous year: EUR 17.8m). "We have made a strong start to the year, increasing the result by 19% compared with the previous year. We recorded rises in customer assets and the number of accounts, thereby continuing our growth trend," says Michael Mandel, CEO of comdirect bank.

The total number of customers in the comdirect group declined in the first quarter by 7,512 to 2,143,051. Assets under custody were up 6% on the fourth quarter of 2009 at EUR 37.56bn, with the rise attributable in equal parts to positive market development and net fund inflows. In the B2C business line (comdirect bank AG), the number of customers increased in the first three months by 3,351 to 1,454,071. At EUR 23.5bn in March, assets under custody were 6% higher than the level at the end of 2009 (EUR 22.2bn). 985,310 customers had a call money account, which is a rise of 24,375, or 3%, in three months. Over the same period, the number of current accounts increased by 5% to 559,138 and the number of custody accounts climbed by 3,359 to 722,553. In the B2B business line (ebase GmbH), the number of custody accounts stood at 688,980 at the end of March - down 2% on the figure at the end of 2009. Assets under custody increased by 5% to EUR 14.1bn as a result of price gains in particular.

In the first three months of the year, comdirect bank generated total income of EUR 69.8m, a decline of 1% compared with the first quarter of the previous year. This was due in particular to low market interest rates. Consequently, net interest income before provisions amounted to EUR 24.0m (previous year: EUR 32.6m) at the end of March. At EUR 38.8m, net commission income was up on the previous year (EUR 34.5m). In contrast, administrative expenses reduced and through consistent cost management amounted to EUR 48.6m, 8% lower than in the same quarter in the previous year.

By 2013, the comdirect group intends to achieve pre-tax profit of between EUR 150m and EUR 170m and at the same time, increase the number of customers to 3 million, with assets under custody of EUR 50bn.

comdirect shareholders can again look forward to a dividend. After approval by the annual general meeting on 7 May 2010, a dividend of 41 cents per share is to be paid for financial year 2009.