31.03.2019

Annual Report 2018

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Press Release

BENDURA BANK AG in its 20th Year with the best annual result

Bendern, 04. April 2019. BENDURA BANK AG, a private bank owned by Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Ltd., which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, achieved further profitable growth in the financial year 2018 and increased its profit by a very good 35% to CHF 23 million. The result is evidence of a broad earnings base, with the company benefiting from the positive USD interest rate environment paired with consistent cost management – the cost/income ratio was 48.5%. Assets under management declined slightly by CHF 77.4 million compared with the previous year to CHF 3.5 billion at year-end 2018. With the recently opened representative office in Hong Kong, the Bank intends to build up its market position and further increase its presence in Asia. BENDURA Group underlines its commitment to Liechtenstein with the start of the extension of the building in Bendern, which allows a doubling of the number of employees from the current 145.

In a market environment characterized by economic and political uncertainties, BENDURA BANK AG remained on a profitable growth path in the financial year 2018. On the one hand, it profited from the positive USD interest rate environment and, on the other hand, from its consistent cost management for many years. The cost / income ratio is below 50%.

BENDURA BANK AG increased its gross income in 2018 by 27% to CHF 57.8 million, which proves further organic growth. Net interest income amounted to CHF 22.6 million, significantly exceeding the result of the previous year of CHF 12.0 million. In addition to the expansion of the credit volume, the recent interest rate increases in the USA and the resulting additional income from USD interbank investments and currency swaps were the main reasons for the increase in profits from the interest business. Income from commission and service fee activities amounted to CHF 26.3 million, up 11% on the 2017 financial year (previous year CHF 23.7 million). Net income from financial transactions amounted to around CHF 8.1 million and was thus stable compared with the previous year.

Operating expenses amounted to CHF 28.0 million in 2018, a significant increase on the previous year (CHF 24.8 million). On the one hand, this is due to higher personnel costs resulting from the increase in the number of employees. On the other hand, general and administrative expenses rose by 24% to CHF 9.1 million compared to the previous year.

The balance sheet total amounts to CHF 1,703.0 million, CHF 216.4 million less than the balance sheet total for the financial year 2017 (CHF 1,919.3 million).

The positive business result for 2018 will enable the Bank to substantially strengthen its equity by around CHF 11.5 million after distribution of profits. BENDURA BANK AG’s total capital ratio at year-end 2018 was around 23.2% (previous year 21.5%). The high liquidity makes it possible for the bank to more than significantly exceed the LCR ratio of 197% as of the balance sheet date (previous year 150%).

Outlook

The fourth-largest Liechtenstein bank, measured by profit after tax, will invest significantly in the expansion of its bank building (CHF 38 million) in the 2019/20 calendar year and in the implementation of regulatory national and international requirements. It is delightful that the generation change in the management has been successful. On 01. April 2019 the long-standing Board of Management member Dr. Gerhard LACKINGER resigned at his own request. He will exclusively take care of the expansion of the bank building and the construction of a garage until his retirement in October 2021. Dr. Andreas INSAM has been CEO since the company was founded in 1998 and will continue to perform these duties. The Bank is confident of achieving further profitable growth in 2019. A key success factor here is employee participation (15%) in the Bank’s capital.

BENDURA BANK AG in a nutshell

BENDURA BANK AG has been operating successfully as a private bank in Liechtenstein for 20 years. The desks are organized according to language regions (German, English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Turkish, Mandarin, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Hungarian). Measured by profit after tax, the Institute ranks 4th among a total of 14 Liechtenstein banks.

Your contact person

Dr. Markus FEDERSPIEL, Mag.

CEO

Sprachen: German,English,Italian

Mag. rer.soc.oec. and Dr. phil. from the University of Innsbruck with studies abroad in Great Britain and Russia. Since successfully completing his doctorate in economic policy in 2008, he has been working for BENDURA BANK AG. Initially as Head Private Banking Italy and from 2013 as Head Institutional Clients. Appointed to the Executive Board in 2019 and appointed Chief Customer Officer (CCO). In October 2022, Markus Federspiel was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In this role, he is responsible for overall bank management as well as the Market and Sales divisions. At the same time, Markus Federspiel heads the leading front teams as well as the Human Resources, Marketing and Office Management departments. Markus Federspiel has been a guest lecturer at the Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck (Austria) for many years and is also a member of the expert commission at the University of Liechtenstein. In addition, he represents BENDURA BANK AG in numerous international networks such as BAFIT, ITC and IPG International.