- Bank posts operating profit of €221 million for the 2023 financial year; Aareon with an operating loss of €72 million after investments – consolidated operating profit of €149 million
- Diversified business model inspires dynamic income growth, up 31 per cent to €1.3 billion, with record figures for net interest income and net commission income
- Risk provisions of €510 million, of which €193 million in Q4 – including provisions to resolve US office NPLs of approx. €0.5 billion in Q1 2024
- CET1 ratio rises slightly, to 19.4 per cent, despite portfolio growth
- Aareon’s adjusted EBITDA increased by 33 per cent, to €100 million
- CEO Jochen Klösges: “During 2023, a year shaped by multiple challenges, we focused on risk management, on actively managing our credit portfolios, and on investing in our future. To this end, we consciously accepted considerable extra charges on our annual results.”
- CFO Marc Hess: “We have used the past year to make significant investments into Aareon, and to actively reduce non-performing loans. We booked substantial risk provisions to this end, which was made possible thanks to our strong earnings power. We will continue to work on sustainably increasing our profitability in 2024.”
Wiesbaden, 29 February 2024 – Following the 2023 financial year, which featured strong income growth, investments and an active risk management, Aareal Bank Group anticipates a significant increase in earnings for the current year. Consolidated operating profit is projected to rise to between €300 million and €350 million in 2024, even though the Bank anticipates continued above-average risk provisions.
Aareal Bank Group closed the 2023 financial year with consolidated operating profit of €149 million (2022: €239 million). Despite additional charges from the takeover by Atlantic BidCo, the repayment of the refinancing line by Aareon and substantial risk provisions, the Bank generated operating profit of €221 million, roughly in line with the previous year’s €242 million. It booked risk provisions of €193 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, including risk provisions recognised in the net result from financial instruments (fvpl).
The US office property market turned out to be more challenging than originally anticipated around the end of the year. Accordingly, the Bank also booked risk provisions for the significant reduction of non-performing loans (NPLs) for US office property financings in an aggregate volume of approx. €0.5 billion. Restructuring of these exposures is planned for as early as the first quarter of 2024.
Aareal Bank also used 2023 to actively reduce legacy NPL exposures, to a greater extent than originally announced, recognising provisions of €115 million in the financial year.
Including valuation adjustments in the net result from financial instruments (fvpl), the Bank booked aggregate risk provisions of €510 million for the year as a whole, of which €360 million was attributable to financings of US office properties.
Aareal Bank was able to compensate for the substantial risk provisions through its very dynamic income performance. Income rose by 31 per cent in 2023, to a record level of just under €1.3 billion, with €350 million (up 32 per cent) generated in the fourth quarter.
Aareon posted an operating loss (EBT) of €72 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose markedly, by 33 per cent, to €100 million (2022: €75 million).
The operating loss was caused by investments of €96 million, which will no longer be incurred going forward and which are expected to yield a positive annual earnings contribution from efficiency measures of around €20 million. They will also contribute to a planned increase in adjusted EBITDA to between €160 million and €170 million in 2024.
Aareon continued its growth path during the financial year under review: sales revenues rose by 12 per cent to €344 million (2022: €308 million). The share of recurring revenue compared to total sales increased to 81 per cent (2022: 74 per cent).
The goal of developing Aareon into a ‘Rule of 40’ enterprise was therefore achieved earlier than planned. This key performance indicator for software companies means that the sum of EBITDA margin and revenue growth exceeds 40.
Having grown strongly in recent years, both organically and inorganically, Aareon now has business activities in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland (DACH) region, in France, UK, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and most recently Spain.
Furthermore, in the financial year under review the Group succeeded in refinancing Aareon on a standalone basis: the facility provided by Aareal Bank to Aareon to date was replaced with external long-term debt, and Aareon’s capitalisation was strengthened via a capital increase. As a result, Aareon has achieved capital market readiness earlier than announced.
CEO Jochen Klösges commented: “During 2023, a year shaped by multiple challenges, we focused on risk management, on actively managing our credit portfolios, and on investing in our future. To this end, we also consciously accepted considerable extra charges on our annual results, thus strengthening the Group's net worth – which is also evident in our very good capital ratio of 19.4 per cent. Whilst we expect the environment to remain challenging, our diversified business model should allow us to generate consolidated operating profit in a range between 300 and 350 million euros in 2024.”
CFO Marc Hess stated: “We have used the past year to make significant investments into Aareon, and to actively reduce non-performing loans. We booked substantial risk provisions to this end, which was made possible thanks to our strong earnings power. We reached our goals for Aareon earlier than announced, and we are proud to report an excellent cost/income ratio of just over 30 per cent for the Bank. In view of still challenging market conditions we will continue to work on sustainably increasing our profitability.”
Business development in 2023 driven by highly dynamic income, impacted by investments and increased risk provisions
Aareal Bank increased net interest income by 39 per cent to €978 million in the financial year under review (2022: €702 million). This increase reflected an expanded lending portfolio, strong margins, as well as the positive impact of higher interest rates on the deposit-taking business. The constructive trend of previous quarters continued into the fourth quarter, with net interest income rising to a new record level of €268 million (Q4 2022: €188 million).
Net commission income also increased by 11 per cent, reaching a new record of €307 million in the financial year under review (2022: €277 million), driven in particular by the strong sales revenue development at the Aareon software subsidiary. At €82 million, net commission income in the fourth quarter was 5 per cent higher than in the same period of the previous year (Q4 2022: €78 million).
Risk provisions totalled €441 million in 2023 (2022: €192 million), due in particular to substantial risk provisions booked for US office property financings and the active management of legacy NPLs. An additional €69 million was booked for valuation adjustments in the net gain or loss from financial instruments (fvpl). Fourth-quarter risk provisions (including fvpl) amounted to €193 million (Q4 2022: €28 million). No particular anomalies have been identified to date regarding exposures outside the US office property market.
In view of the planned NPL reduction of approx. €0.5 billion in US office properties in the first quarter of 2024, the Bank expects the share of NPLs in the overall portfolio as at the end of March to remain largely stable compared to the previous year (NPE ratio 31 Dec 2023: 3.4 per cent, 31 Dec 2022: 2.8 per cent), despite the very challenging market environment.
Consolidated administrative expenses rose to €645 million (2022: €571 million), due in particular to investments in Aareon. These non-recurring expenses totalled €96 million, exceeding original projections by €61 million. Expenses at the Bank were kept stable thanks to strict cost discipline. Administrative expenses in the fourth quarter totalled €159 million (Q4 2022: €148 million). Aareal Bank improved its cost/income ratio (CIR) in the banking business to 32 per cent for the full year (2022: 40 per cent), retaining its top ranking amongst European peers.
Consolidated operating profit totalled €149 million in the 2023 financial year (2022: €239 million). Fourth-quarter consolidated operating profit was minus €6 million (Q4 2022: €+82 million), including €1 million attributable to the Bank.
Taking tax deductions of €101 million into account, full-year consolidated net income was €48 million (2022: €153 million). The income taxes item was impacted by the write-off of Aareon’s loss carryforwards in the context of Aareal Bank Group’s takeover by Atlantic BidCo GmbH. Consolidated net income for the fourth quarter thus amounted to minus €56 million (Q4 2022: €+53 million).
Solid capital position and successful funding
Aareal Bank continues to be solidly financed. In fact, despite the tense situation on the US office property market and in view of portfolio growth, the Bank managed to slightly increase its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (Basel IV phase-in ratio) to 19.4 per cent at the end of 2023 (31 Dec 2022: 19.3 per cent). The total capital ratio was 23.5 per cent (31 December 2022: 24.0 per cent).
Aareal Bank successfully expanded its funding activities during the financial year under review, further diversifying the funding mix and broadening the investor base. The Bank placed a total of €2.4 billion in funding instruments on the capital markets during the financial year under review, including two benchmark Pfandbriefe of €750 million each plus one €500 million issue. The volume of fixed-interest retail deposits sourced through platforms reached approximately €2.6 billion by the end of 2023 (31 Dec 2022: €636 million). Furthermore, via Raisin, Aareal Bank became the first German bank to offer fixed-term deposits in the Netherlands in February 2024.
Growth across all business segments
In the Structured Property Financing segment, Aareal Bank increased its lending volume, and hence its interest-bearing business, by €2 billion to €32.9 billion (31 Dec 2022: €30.9 billion), thus reaching the upper end of the full-year forecast range of €32 billion to €33 billion. New business increased to €10 billion (2022: €8.9 billion). Margins on newly-originated loans remained clearly ahead of the previous year’s level, averaging around 290 basis points.
Average loan-to-value ratios in the existing portfolio remained at a healthy 56 per cent (2022: 55 per cent).
The Bank completed its exit from any exposure to Russia during the financial year under review; it also no longer holds any lending exposure to China.
A dedicated team for financing alternative living properties was established in the third quarter, with the goal of further expanding financing business in this market segment, which comprises student housing and co-living – a market segment where Aareal Bank already ranks amongst the leading providers. For instance, the Bank provided a GBP 380 million financing to Chapter, a specialist provider in this segment, for a prime portfolio comprising three student housing properties in London. Moreover, the Bank is now also active in the New Zealand market, where it commenced business activities last year.
Aareal Bank also further expanded the share of green loans in its portfolio. The Bank extended approximately €3 billion in newly-originated green loans during the financial year under review, raising the portfolio volume of green financings to around €4.8 billion.
In the Banking & Digital Solutions segment, average deposit volumes from housing industry clients rose to €13.6 billion (2022: €13.4 billion), exceeding the target level of around €13 billion set for the year under review. Net interest income for the segment more than doubled to €238 million (2022: €92 million), reflecting the impact of normalised interest rate levels in conjunction with the continued high volume of deposits. The segment’s net commission income also developed favourably, rising to €33 million (2022: €31 million).
With the conclusion of a long-term cooperation agreement (joint venture) between the Bank and Aareon regarding First Financial at the beginning of 2024, Aareal Bank Group has strengthened its market position as a leading international property specialist whilst building the foundations for further growth, especially in the Group's banking and software units.
Software subsidiary Aareon increased sales revenues to €344 million in the financial year under review (2022: €308 million). The transformation process towards SaaS and subscription solutions continued to be on track. Recurring revenues rose by 22 per cent, from €228 million to €278 million, raising the share of recurring revenue compared to total sales to 81 per cent (2022: 74 per cent). The adjusted EBITDA margin grew by four percentage points to 29 per cent (2022: 25 per cent), whilst adjusted EBITDA rose by 33 per cent to €100 million (2022: €75 million), reaching the upper end of the target corridor.
During the financial year under review, besides investments in enhancing efficiency and optimising the product range, Aareon continued to focus upon both organic and inorganic growth. Acquisitions included UTS innovative Softwaresysteme GmbH in Germany, and Embrace – The Human Cloud in the Netherlands. Aareon took its first step to explore the Spanish market with the acquisition of software provider IESA. The company also increasingly opened up to third-party solutions with "Aareon Connect". By the end of 2023, the open ecosystem already had more than 30 partners.
Outlook for 2024: marked earnings increase expected
Aareal Bank Group expects the environment in the US office property market to remain challenging in the 2024 financial year. Thanks to its strong earnings power, the Group nonetheless anticipates consolidated operating profit between €300 million and €350 million.
The Bank is expected to achieve operating profit of €250 million to €300 million, despite risk provisions projected to remain at above-average levels. This is based on a planned increase in the credit portfolio to between €33 billion and €34 billion, with target new business of €8 billion to €9 billion. The Bank continues to expect deposit volumes to remain stable, averaging around €13 billion.
Aareon’s sales revenues are expected to rise to between €440 million and €460 million, with adjusted EBITDA projected to rise to between €160 million and €170 million.
Contacts for the media:
Margarita Thiel
Phone: +49 611 348 2306
Mobile: +49 171 2069740
margarita.thiel(at)aareal-bank.com
Christian Feldbrügge
hone: +49 611 348 2280
Mobile: +49 171 8667919
christian.feldbruegge(at)aareal-bank.com
Contact for investors:
Aareal Bank AG – Investor Relations
Phone: +49 611 348 3009
ir(at)aareal-bank.com
