Triodos boss tries to appease certificate of deposit holders

2023-08-18 10:32:34

Jeroen Rijpkema, CEO of the green bank Triodos, tries to appease the holders of certificates of deposit in an interview given to the Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad. “This fight is in no one’s interest,” he says, responding to news that a group of certificate holders are preparing a class action lawsuit once morest the bank.

This case has been dragging on for several years. Around 43,000 investors, mainly Dutch, but also a few thousand Belgians, have invested in Triodos Bank in recent years, for a total of around 1.2 billion euros. In exchange, they received a certificate which entitled them to a dividend.

During the coronavirus crisis, investors wanted to get rid of their certificates massively. Trading in the certificates was halted in 2020 but resumed three years later, on July 5 via an alternative stock exchange.

But the certificates have now lost their value, dropping from 84 to 33 euros. According to the newspaper Financieele Dagblad, the exchanges are weak and barely 500 new investors have created an account.

The CEO emphasizes that the new rating system “works technically well”. According to him, it was clear that it would take some time before the equilibrium in the listing was established.

“The low price is not something that leaves us indifferent,” he says in the interview. “We continue to talk to big investors in the hope that they will take a stand in the bank.”

The CEO also recalls the good results of the bank in the first half with a net profit of 35.2 million euros. “We are working very hard to improve the bank’s performance. This also benefits our certificate of deposit holders.”

In September, the bank will distribute half of the profits in the form of an interim dividend.

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