With falling inflation and interest rate cuts, there are signs of an economic recovery: Oberbank CEO Franz Gasselsberger shared this assessment on Thursday at the presentation of the bank’s half-yearly financial statements in Linz.
He said he was “more than satisfied” with the results for the first six months: interest income rose by 17.1 percent to a total of 329.4 million euros. The credit volume increased by almost 600 million euros to 20.6 billion euros. Corporate business played the most important role in this. New business of 535.4 million euros was generated in leasing.
Compared to the previous year, the profit for the period fell by 7.2 percent to EUR 258.7 million. The reason for this was a decline in the investment result: in the previous year, this was a one-off addition of EUR 55 million from voestalpine, in which Oberbank holds around eight percent.
The contributions from the sister banks BKS and BTV totaled 27 million euros. The half-year operating result was the best in history. Equity rose to a new high of 3.96 billion euros.
There was also an increase in housing loans: “We are not seeing any bad mood in the private customer business at all,” said Gasselsberger. Investments in housing are picking up again, and private pension provision is also enjoying great popularity.
With regard to politics, Gasselsberger criticized “reform backlog and stagnation.” Urgent measures are needed for the business location. Although he does not see a “classic exodus of companies,” Gasselsberger said, investments in capacities are increasingly being made outside Austria. Corporate and private bankruptcies are having a smaller impact on Oberbank than on the market.
Since last year, the number of employees has increased by 64 to 2,334. Oberbank wants to expand primarily in Germany, where it currently has 50 branches in ten federal states. The majority of the business comes from corporate customers. In total, there are 175 branches in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
This article was updated at 6:29 p.m.
