For two years, Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank (Apobank) wrestled with problems that drove up its costs.

She did not even report any major upheavals due to the pandemic.

Rather, one would think that the medical professions were more in demand than ever in the past two years.

However, it was precisely during this period that the core banking system was converted, which caused serious IT problems in the bank's operational processes and customer business.

In December 2020, an additional demand from the Düsseldorf tax office also fluttered into the Apobank mailbox.

For a short time, the money house acted as a custodian bank for Warburg Invest's cum-ex transactions.

In the 2021 financial year, she therefore paid 48.8 million euros in capital gains tax and solidarity surcharge for 2010.

Gregory Bruner

Editor in Business.

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Now the worst part of the spook should be over.

Admittedly, the costs would not drop significantly.

In 2021, the expenditure amounted to 715 million euros, around 0.8 percent less than in the previous year, and this year one has to concentrate on catching up on things that were left behind.

Processes must be optimized and efficiencies raised, said the bank's board of directors at its balance sheet press conference on Thursday.

But the costs should not increase any more.

One cost item that has already been reduced is risk provisioning from the operating business, which was reduced from EUR 40.1 million to EUR 14.3 million last year.

Reserves, on the other hand, were greatly increased, from 33.4 million euros in 2020 to 49.5 million euros in 2021.

On the income side, the 8.7 percent slump in interest income was only partially offset by a 4.7 percent improvement in net commission income.

Expiring old loans, which were replaced by new loans with lower interest rates, weighed on net interest income.

In addition, they took a closer look at construction financing, accepted fewer applications, but paid attention to a higher margin.

Interest income was supported by TLTRO transactions with the European Central Bank.

The bank received a bonus of EUR 48 million from the refinancing transactions, which totaled EUR 7.5 billion for 2020 and 2021.

Together with other income, Apobank has total income of 903 million euros.

In 2021, the bank had to spend 79.8 cents to earn 1 euro.

Due to the imponderables of the pandemic and the Ukraine war, Apobank does not want to publish a forecast for the current year.

The first three months provide for optimism.

The business would like to focus on the financing of business start-ups and construction.

In asset management, new offers are to be created in which one wants to draw on one's own specialist knowledge of the healthcare market.

The bank intends to present concrete strategic measures only when presenting its half-year results.

Since the new CEO, Matthias Schellenberger, only took up his post on March 1, 2022 and a large part of the board was replaced last year, they want to familiarize themselves first together.

Likewise, one did not want to describe the development of the number of customers in the past year,

since the new core banking system does not yet allow a clear definition of what a "customer" actually is.

However, it is important to win back the trust of all “customers” this year after a lot has been expected of them.

Among other things, a customer advisory board was set up to provide advice on product development.

By the end of the current year, the Advisory Board should have 200 members.