LINZ. The largest bank in Upper Austria reports a pre-tax profit of EUR 557.8 million for 2021. This is an increase of more than 200 percent and more than all other Upper Austrian banks together earned in the previous year. RLB boss Heinrich Schaller, however, steps on the brakes on euphoria. The bank is preparing for a very difficult year 2022. He thinks the economic forecasts of growth of a good two percent and an inflation rate of five to six percent are wrong. “Unfortunately, things will get worse,” says Schaller.
The increase in net income is the sum of several positive factors. Like all other banks, the RLB also made strong gains in net interest income, but also in commission business. However, the biggest jump was in RLB’s holdings and financial investments, which increased in value by almost EUR 200 million. The two largest holdings in voestalpine and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) are not taken into account.
The bottom line at RBI is a minus of four million euros because part of the stake in RBI has been written off as a precaution. It remains to be seen whether the RBI will withdraw from Russia. But you can’t just close a bank. It’s more complex, says Schaller. It is not yet possible to say what gap RBI will tear with its involvement in Russia and Ukraine. “The good results and the high equity ratio of the RLB would ensure that the RLB also cushion this crisis accordingly.
In contrast to 2020, voestalpine made a positive contribution to earnings again, but this was somewhat reduced by declining prices.
The Raiffeisen group in Upper Austria now has total assets of almost EUR 70 billion, making it number four among Austrian banks. The pre-tax profit for the entire group in 20021 was EUR 868.6 million. Deposits increased by 6.5 percent to 24.5 billion euros. This means that there is enough liquidity to cope with difficult times, says Schaller.
Source: Nachrichten
