The savings banks seem to be coping well with the corona pandemic.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt The savings banks in Baden-Württemberg are fighting the corona crisis for the second year in a row. The 50 savings banks granted more loans in 2021 than ever before. They promised more than 34 billion euros in fresh loans, as the Baden-Württemberg Savings Banks Association announced on Tuesday.
The bottom line is that loans rose even faster than customer deposits, in recent years it was usually the other way around. The important net interest income fell again slightly despite the extensive new business – which is mainly due to the negative interest rates in the euro zone.
But due to other effects – securities turnover also shot up – the Baden-Württemberg savings banks earned significantly more in 2021. The operating result after valuation climbed by almost nine percent to 1.5 billion euros. Due to high tax payments, however, the annual result fell to 873 million euros.
The good result is a sign that the almost 370 German savings banks are coping well with the corona pandemic. The Baden-Württemberg regional association is the first savings bank association to present figures for 2021.
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Association President Peter Schneider is also optimistic about 2022. The savings banks would continue to provide reliable support to customers this year, he said. The forecasts for the course of the pandemic make us confident that companies and private customers will experience more normality again from spring and that the economy as a whole can take off, provided that delivery bottlenecks do not slow it down.”
Difficulties with corporate customers
According to Schneider, risk provisioning for loans at risk of default was moderate at EUR 80 million. However, the savings bank president pointed out that some of the corporate customers had gotten into serious difficulties due to the corona crisis.
“Our corporate customers are still divided into three groups: The first group includes those who had to close due to the pandemic and the self-employed. Many of these customers are fighting for their existence,” said Schneider.
In such cases, new loans would no longer help, but only quickly disbursed government support. “A second group is made up of companies that are dealing with supply chain or sales difficulties but have not had to close. This group is defying the crisis as best it can,” explained Schneider. A third group was even able to expand its business during the pandemic. “That’s the smallest group, though.”
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