Wiesbaden, 28 March 2018 – Aareal Bank Group published its Annual Report 2017 today. In addition to information on the Bank's business model and its activities in the two business segments, the Annual Report includes audited consolidated financial statements for 2017 in accordance with IFRSs, and the Bank's Group Management Report.
As announced during the Bank's annual press conference on 28 February 2018, based on preliminary, unaudited figures, consolidated operating profit for the 2017 financial year amounted to € 328 million, after € 366 million in the previous year. It was thus in the middle of the target corridor of € 310 million to € 350 million, which was raised in the course of the year – and, as expected, below the very good figure for the previous year.
Following another good year, Aareal Bank wants its shareholders to adequately participate in these results. As also announced in February, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board will therefore propose a dividend of € 2.50 per share (up from € 2.00 per share for the previous year) to the Annual General Meeting of Aareal Bank AG, which will be held on 23 May 2018. This is equivalent to a distribution ratio of 78 per cent.
"Once again, Aareal Bank Group demonstrated in 2017 that it is well able to deal with a difficult environment, and once again delivered on its promises: we reached our financial objectives and met our forecasts. As we can see from all the material indicators, our Company is perfectly healthy", said CEO Hermann J. Merkens in the letter to shareholders. "But also the diverse initiatives that we launched to further develop the business models of both segments as part of our 'Aareal 2020' programme for the future are increasingly showing a positive effect."
The full annual report for 2017 is available from Aareal Bank's website: https://www.aareal-bank.com/financial-reports. A version optimised for online display, and including additional information, is available on https://ar.aareal-bank.com/2017/.
Moreover, Aareal Bank Group published its online Sustainability Report, as well as the Non-financial Report 2017 (reviewed by the Supervisory Board) today. Both reports, together with supplementary information and indicators evidencing Aareal Bank Group’s contributions to the sustainable development of the economy and society, are available on https://www.aareal-bank.com/en/responsibility/.
