Deutsche Postbank Group Annual Report. Postbank. More bank.

Transcription

1 Deutsche Postbank 2006 Group Annual Report Postbank. More bank.

2 Postbank Group in figures 2006 Jan. 1 Dec Consolidated income statement Balance sheet-related revenues m 2,710 2,132 Total income m 4,117 2,831 Administrative expenses m 2,812 1,886 Profit before tax m Consolidated net profit m Total cost/income ratio % Cost/income ratio in traditional banking business % Return on equity 1 before tax % after tax % Earnings per share Dec. 31, 2006 Dec. 31, 2005 Consolidated balance sheet Total assets m 184, ,280 Customer deposits m 87,663 68,418 Customer loans m 79,388 44,134 Allowance for losses on loans and advances m 1, Equity m 5,207 5,061 BIS regulatory indicators Tier 1 ratio % Capital ratio % Tier 1 ratio in accordance with Basel II 2 % 6.6 Headcount thousand Long-term ratings Moody's A 1 A 1 Outlook stable stable Standard & Poor's A A Outlook negative negative Fitch A A Outlook stable stable Information on Postbank shares Dec. 31, 2006 Dec. 31, 2005 Share price at the balance sheet date Share price (Jan. 1 Dec. 31) high low Market capitalization on December, 31 m 10,491 8,036 Number of shares million Prior-period figures restated 2 Internal calculation in accordance with the Solvabilitätsverordnung (SolvV Solvency Ordinance) and the Kreditwesengesetz (KWG German Banking Act)

3 Group Structure* Deutsche Group Management Finance Product Marketing Branch Sales Wulf von Schimmelmann Henning R. Engmann Wolfgang Klein Hans-Peter Schmid Corporate Development Accounting & Sales Monitoring & Taxes Credit Management Investor Relations & Controlling Marketing & CRM Research Corporate Risk Controlling Product Management Communications Investment & Insurance Internal Audit Call Centers, Direct Sales Channels Strategic Investments Third-Party Sales Sales Support Loans BHW Holding AG Postbank Postbank Finanzberatung AG Filialvertrieb AG PB Versicherung AG BHW Bausparkasse AG PB Lebensversicherung AG BHW Bank AG BHW Lebensversicherung AG BHW Immobilien GmbH BHW Home Finance Ltd., India Milestones 2006 Multi-channel sales decisively strengthened through the acquisition of 850 Deutsche Post retail outlets the purchase of BHW Holding AG, Hamelin Postbank now no. 1 in Germany in private mortgage lending, with portfolio amounting to 62.3 billion With 14.6 million customers, largest single institution among German banks Consolidation of activities in Luxembourg: In May 2006, inclusion of branch in Deutsche Postbank Int. S.A. (PBI) July 17, 2006: Establishment of Postbank Finanzberatung AG and, with it, the integration of the mobile sales forces of BHW and Postbank September 18, 2006: Admission to the DAX stock index of the 30 most important listed companies in Germany *including selected subsidiaries

4 Postbank AG Lending Financial Markets Services IT/Operations Resources Stefan Jütte Loukas Rizos Mario Daberkow Dirk Berensmann Ralf Stemmer Credit Management Money, Forex and Capital Operations Control Strategic Projects HR Strategy Domestic Markets Credit Management Treasury Customers & Sales Account Management HR Operations International Special Issues Issues and Payments Euro Financial Markets Coordination Lending Syndicate Business Operations PB Capital Corporation, New York Postbank Leasing GmbH PB Factoring GmbH PB Firmenkunden AG Deutsche Postbank International S.A., Luxembourg Deutsche Postbank Vermögensmanagement S.A., Luxembourg Deutsche Postbank Privat Investment Kapitalanlage GmbH Deutsche Postbank Financial Services GmbH November 22, 2006: Announcement of the acquisition of payment transaction settlement for HypoVereinsbank AG, Munich, starting on January 1, 2007: Market share in transaction banking now over 20 % Payments Global Branch Sales HR Management Service Field Accounts & Services Direct Sales Legal Affairs Service Field Credit Services Betriebs-Center für Banken Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG Postbank Systems AG Real Estate Management Employees and Trustee Customers Milestones 2006 Group Structure Focus on the core markets: Fourth quarter sale of Modrá Pyramida home loan and savings bank, Czech Republic BHW Rückversicherung, Luxembourg

5 Deutsche Postbank 2006 Group Annual Report Postbank Group Letter to our Shareholders 2 Shareholders and Stock 6 Executive Bodies 14 Strategy 20 Business Divisions Retail Banking 26 Corporate Banking 36 Transaction Banking 40 Financial Markets 44 IT/Operations 48 Employees 52 Sustainability 56 Corporate Governance 62 Report of the Supervisory Board 72 Fiscal Year 2006 Group Management Report Business and Environment 78 Net Assets, Financial Position and Results of Operations 82 Report on Post-Balance Sheet Date Events 87 Risk Report 88 Report on Expected Developments 112 Consolidated Financial Statements Consolidated Income Statement 117 Consolidated Balance Sheet 118 Statement of Changes in Equity 119 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 120 Notes 124 Segment Reporting (Note 40) 170 Auditors Report 205 Consolidated Income Statement Quarterly Overview 206 Consolidated Income Statement Multi-Year Overview 208 Annex 209 Glossary 212 Contact Details 216

6 2006 was one of the most important years in Postbank s history. Our acquisitions of BHW and 850 Deutsche Post retail outlets have created a sales organization that is unparalleled in Germany. The result is a financial institution that offers a unique combination of size and local customer focus. The early sales successes of Postbank Finanzberatung AG, which was established in July and brings together the entire mobile sales organization of BHW and Postbank, and our retail outlets already prove that we are moving in the right strategic direction. The acquisition of over 900,000 new customers was a great achievement, particularly in view of the fact that our resources were heavily tied up with integration activities over the past year. Our goal for 2007 is to break the barrier of acquiring more than one million new customers in a year. We reaped immediate benefits in 2006 from the outstanding expertise and market position of BHW one of Germany s leading lender of private mortgages. With total mortgage lending amounting to 62.3 billion, the extended Postbank is now Germany s number one provider in this important segment. And Postbank was already the market leader for checking and savings products. However, we also achieved significant growth in the other areas of our service offer, including consumer loans, investment funds and private pension provision. I am all the more delighted about this in view of the exceptional effort required to join together with two other companies, each of which employed almost as many people as Postbank used to on its own. In the Transaction Banking segment, our assumption of HypoVereinsbank s payment transactions at the beginning of the current year again demonstrated the outstanding role we are playing in the increasing consolidation of back-office processes in the banking sector. With a market share of over 20 %, we have already achieved a leading position in this field. The Corporate Banking segment again exceeded the strong results it recorded in the previous year. The positive contributions made by the two mainstays of this business division, Payment Solutions and Selective Finance, strengthened consolidated earnings. The positive development of our operating business is reflected in extremely strong earnings growth in the year under review: despite the additional costs of integration, we were able to boost pre-tax profit to 941 million, an increase of 31.6 % on last year s pro forma figure. We also recorded significant improvements in our two most important performance targets: in the year under review, there was a substantial rise in return on equity (RoE) before taxes, which climbed 4.0 percentage points to 18.9 %, while the cost/income ratio in the traditional banking business (excluding Transaction Banking) fell an encouraging 6.8 percentage points to 66.7%. This success is due both to the continuation of strict cost management on the basis of highly efficient, IT-assisted processes, as well as to the constant income growth in our customer business. I firmly believe that this will allow us to achieve aboveaverage earnings growth in the long term, even in the face of intensified competition and a challenging interest rate environment for a bank with a high volume of deposits. 2

7 Letter to our Shareholders Postbank Group Postbank s successful performance has also been reflected in its share price, which again increased substantially in the year under review, reaching by the end of the year a rise of 31%. On September 18, Postbank shares were included in the DAX index of Germany s 30 most important listed companies. We view this as a lasting endorsement of our business model and, at the same time, an incentive to push ahead with our strategy. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff, who have achieved the extraordinary in combining our day-to-day business with the work of integration. Their hard work was crucial to our success. In the current fiscal year, we will concentrate fully on infusing our new strength into customer business. Once we have completed our key integration measures, we intend to turn all our attention to customers and markets and ensure that the Postbank sales machine is running at full capacity. I want to thank you, our shareholders, for your confidence. I would be delighted for your continued support on our path to becoming Germany s No. 1 financial services provider for private customers and a service partner for corporate customers. Wulf von Schimmelmann Chairman of the Management Board 3

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9 Executive Bodies Postbank Group Management Board of Deutsche Postbank AG from left: Stefan Jütte Hans-Peter Schmid Wulf von Schimmelmann Ralf Stemmer Dirk Berensmann Wolfgang Klein Loukas Rizos Mario Daberkow Henning R. Engmann 5

10 Shareholders and Stock: Postbank included in the DAX in its third year on the stock exchange Dynamic increase in share price Postbank in the DAX since September 18, 2006 Postbank Group offers strong growth prospects Postbank stock significantly outperforms the market We can look back on another successful year on the stock exchange: the upturn in the growth of European economies and the substantial increase in corporate earnings resulted in double-digit share price gains for investors on the stock markets. The EURO STOXX 50 share index rose by 15 % and the DAX (including dividends) by 22 %. With an annual performance of % (+33.1% including the dividend), Postbank shares far outperformed the extremely strong trend recorded by these share indices. The strength of Postbank s performance becomes even more apparent when compared with our peer group of leading European retail banks: Postbank beat the average performance of these banks by 11.2 percentage points an achievement that we believe vindicates our successful business model. The rise in Postbank s share price also led to a substantial increase in our market capitalization of 2.5 billion year-on-year to 10.5 billion at the end of the year under review. Good growth prospects for the new Postbank Group The impressive increase in our share price reflects not only Postbank s positive performance in the year under review, but also the good growth prospects of the Postbank Group. Following the acquisition of 850 Deutsche Post retail outlets and a majority interest in BHW, we published new medium-term 2008 targets in March of the year under review. These specify a return on equity of at least 20 % before taxes and a cost/income ratio of less than 63 % in the traditional banking business (excluding Transaction Banking); this will mean a sustainable improvement in our profitability and efficiency. The targets will enable Postbank to generate substantially more than its cost of capital of around 8.5 %. According to the concept of shareholder value, this threshold which is different for every company depending on the level of risk involved is considered to be the minimum level of return for a business wishing to create value. In the case of Postbank, we calculate this parameter on the basis of a longterm risk-free interest rate of 4 % and a risk premium for the stock market of 5 %. The latter, weighted by a beta factor of 0.9 since the IPO, is incorporated into the calculation (4 % + 5 % * 0.9 = 8.5 %). 6

11 Letter Shareholders to our Shareholders and Stock Postbank Group Performance of Postbank stock since the initial public offering (June 23, 2004 to December 29, 2006) Values linked to index, Postbank IPO price on June 23, 2004 of 28,50 = Postbank Moving average of 200 days DAX Peer group* Source: Bloomberg 06/23/04 08/03/04 09/14/04 10/26/04 12/07/04 01/20/05 03/01/05 04/12/05 05/24/05 07/05/05 08/16/05 09/27/05 11/08/05 12/20/05 01/31/06 03/14/06 04/25/06 06/06/06 07/18/06 08/29/06 10/10/06 11/21/06 12/29/06 Performance of Postbank stock versus the DAX and peer group (December 30, 2005 to December 29, 2006) Values linked to index, price of Postbank stock on December 30, 2005 of 49,00 = 100 Postbank DAX Peer group* /30 01/20 02/10 03/03 03/24 04/14 05/05 05/26 06/16 *Banco Popular, Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara, Swedbank, Svenska Handelsbanken, Alliance & Leicester, Banco Espirito Santo, Erste Bank, Unicredito, Royal Bank of Scotland 07/07 07/28 08/18 09/08 09/29 10/20 11/10 12/01 12/22 12/29 7

12 as confirmed by analysts Equity analysts are also forecasting higher profits and lower expense ratios for Postbank. As we completed our acquisitions without a capital increase, our earnings per share forecasts rose at the same time. As a result, many analysts raised their share price targets and some also improved their recommendations. Equity analysts from more than 30 banks and securities houses currently track and comment on Postbank s business development and prospects. They are in contact with our Investor Relations team and Management Board on an ongoing basis, and published more than 90 studies on our Company in You can find an overview of their current recommendations on our Investor Relations pages at Inclusion in the DAX On September 18, 2006, Deutsche Postbank s stock was included in the DAX the most important index for listed companies in Germany. Postbank s strong share price performance had already made it one of the country s largest listed stock corporations, with an overall market capitalization of 9.8 billion at the end of March However, Deutsche Börse only considers a company s free float when selecting DAX members, which meant that only 33 % of Postbank s market capitalization was initially taken into account. This proportion increased in July, when Deutsche Post called the exchangeable bond on Postbank stock prior to maturity because of the increase in our share price. At this point, the free float rose to 50 % less one share. Postbank was therefore ranked 28th out of all listed German companies by this DAX criterion at the end of August Postbank also achieved a strong position with regard to the second DAX criterion, stock exchange turnover, at the end of August 2006, finishing in 35th place. The Company was included in the DAX during the annual index adjustment in September. Postbank replaced Schering, which lost its place in the DAX due to the low free float following its takeover by Bayer. Our inclusion in the DAX will make Postbank stock an even more attractive investment than before, for both national and international investors. This is also proved by the increase in our stock exchange turnover: in December 2006, we ranked 34th out of all German listed companies by this criterion, and 29th by market capitalization. This ensures us a stable position in the DAX. 8

13 Shareholders and Stock Postbank Group Our stock data / % 2006 Year-end closing price % High* % Low* % Earnings per share % Price/earnings ratio** % Number of shares millions unchanged Market capitalization** m 5,330 8,036 10, % Beta factor (relative to the DAX) Equity m 4,766 5,061 5, % Return on equity before taxes 14.0 % 15.0 % 18.9 % Total dividend (2006: proposal) m unchanged Dividend per share (2006: proposal) unchanged Dividend yield** 2.6 % 2.0 % Annual performance* excluding dividend 14.0 % 50.8 % 30.6 % Annual performance* including dividend 14.0 % 54.6 % 33.1% * 2004: June 23 to December 31 ** based on the year-end closing price Shareholder structure After calling the exchangeable bond, the free float, i.e. shares that are freely tradable, increased to 50 % less one share while Deutsche Post continues to hold a majority interest of 50 % plus one share. Private investors own 11% and institutional investors 89% of the free-float. Postbank is particularly popular with international investors, as an analysis of the shareholder structure shows. Interest in Postbank continues to grow among institutional investors particularly in the UK and North America; together, these two groups now account for 57.0 % of this category. Institutional investors in Germany and France account for a further 27.5 %, while there is also a broad spread of interests held by other European investors. 9

14 Shareholder structure of Deutsche Postbank AG as of December 31, 2006 Shareholder structure (in %) Institutional investors by country (in %) 44.5 %, institutional investors 5.5 %, private investors 3.4 %, other 1.5 %, Italy 1.5 %, Switzerland 4.4 %, Denmark 4.7 %, Luxembourg 11.8 %, France 36.9 %, UK 50 % + 1 share, Deutsche Post 15.7 %, Germany 20.1 %, USA and Canada Success factor: Intensive dialog with our investors We pursue a policy of open communication to attract the interest of investors and analysts, in the first instance by holding regular press and analyst conferences to present our annual and quarterly results. In addition, the Investor Relations team often supported by members of Postbank s Management Board organized 46 roadshows in Germany and abroad, and attended twelve conferences held by key investment banks. We gave extensive answers to questions about the new Group and our business model in more than 300 one-on-one meetings. In addition to current earnings and business developments, the focus of attention in 2006 was on the initial consolidation and integration of BHW and the Deutsche Post retail outlets. A range of international surveys further testify to our good working relationship with investors and analysts. Included in the Rematch investor relations survey for the first time, the Postbank Investor Relations team was ranked immediately 9 out of 33 European financial services providers in This was the second best result of any German financial services provider. And in the annual survey conducted by the Institutional Investor Research Group, the respondents rated us one of the top ten teams of investor relations professionals, out of a pool of 68 IR teams from leading European financial services providers. 10

15 Shareholders and Stock Postbank Group We offer institutional and private investors access to a shareholder hotline in addition to our website, which contains information and allows investors to make inquiries and place orders. Our Investor Relations team answers all your questions about Postbank stock on our Internet pages. We also used three events held by German shareholder protection associations as a supplementary platform for presentations and direct dialog with private investors. We intend to expand this approach in Extremely positive echo at Postbank s second public Annual General Meeting A large number of private investors again used our second Annual General Meeting on May 11, 2006 to communicate with their company: As in the previous year, over 78 % of the voting capital was represented. All agenda items were adopted by a majority of at least 97.3 % a clear endorsement by the shareholders of our business strategy. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our next Annual General Meeting on May 10, 2007 in the Kölnarena in Cologne. Despite the pressure on equity due to our acquisitions, the Management Board will propose an unchanged high dividend of 1.25 per share for A list of other important dates can be found in the Financial Calendar at the end of this Annual Report. You can also visit our Investor Relations website at for additional information, or you can call our shareholder hotline on +49 (0)

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17 Postbank as a mobile bank I am now part of a team of 4,400 mobile financial advisers. This makes Postbank the leader among German banks. And personally I think it s the best bank in the world. Stephan Holzinger, mobile financial adviser at Postbank Finanzberatung AG If you want to succeed with your customers, you have to anticipate their needs. By giving them compelling services, whenever and wherever it is convenient to them. This is why the merger of Postbank and BHW is simply ideal: they complement each other perfectly in terms of products and services as well as multi-channel sales.

18 Executive Bodies Management Board Wulf von Schimmelmann, Bonn, Chairman Dirk Berensmann, Unkel Mario Daberkow, Bonn from November 1, 2006 Henning R. Engmann, Bonn from March 10, 2006 Stefan Jütte, Bonn Wolfgang Klein, Bonn Loukas Rizos, Bonn Hans-Peter Schmid, Baldham Ralf Stemmer, Königswinter 14

19 Executive Bodies Postbank Group Supervisory Board Klaus Zumwinkel, Cologne, Chairman, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post World Net Michael Sommer*, Berlin, Deputy Chairman, Chairman of the German Trade Union Federation Jörg Asmussen, Berlin, Head of Department, Federal Ministry of Finance Marietta Auer*, Unterhaching, Head of Department, Deutsche Postbank AG, Head Office Rosemarie Bolte*, Stuttgart, Regional Head of Department, Financial Services, at ver.di Trade Union Wilfried Boysen, Hamburg Edgar Ernst, Bonn, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post World Net Hans-Dieter Petram, Bonn, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post World Net Bernd Pfaffenbach, Wachtberg-Pech, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology Klaus Schlede, Cologne, previously Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG Elmo von Schorlemer, Aachen, Lawyer Sabine Schwarz*, Berlin, Chair of Deutsche Postbank AG s Works Council, Berlin Branch Gerd Tausendfreund*, Nidderau, Trade union secretary of the ver.di Trade Union Christine Weiler*, Kreiling, Chair of Deutsche Postbank AG s Works Council, Munich Branch Annette Harms*, Hamburg, Deputy Chair of Deutsche Postbank AG s Works Council, Hamburg Branch Peter Hoch, Munich Ralf Höhmann*, Korntal-Münchingen, Chairman of Deutsche Postbank AG s Works Council, Stuttgart Branch Elmar Kallfelz*, Wachtberg, Member of Deutsche Post AG s Group Works Council Ralf Krüger, Kronberg, Management consultant, Professor at the Fachhochschule Wiesbaden Harald Kuhlow*, Weingarten, Appointed expert to the General Works Council of Deutsche Postbank AG * Employee representatives 15

20 Executive Manager Mario Daberkow, Bonn until October 31, 2006 Directors Branch Sales Helmuth Pawletta, Delmenhorst until May 31, 2006 Norbert Roth, Berlin until May 31, 2006 Rainer Thews, Hamburg until May 31, 2006 Andrea Wiegand, Bochum until May 31, 2006 Finance Marcus Chromik, Bonn since January 1, 2006 Ulrich Geuss, Bonn since January 1, 2006 Werner Hille, Weinstadt-Endersbach until May 31, 2006 Christian Schramm, Bonn since January 1, 2006 Financial Markets Horst Küpker, Königswinter-Thomasberg Group Management Manfred Harnischfeger, Bonn Marc Heß, Bonn Ralf Kauther, Bonn since June 1, 2006 Dieter Richter, Troisdorf Heike Weden, Bonn 16

21 Executive Bodies Postbank Group IT/Operations Ludger Dörr, Oststeinbeck Heiko Fischer, Gütersloh Thea Kutzscher, Berlin Andreas Nix, Kandel Klaus Werner, Munich Resources Holger Giese, Alfter Claus Kleine, Bonn Rainer Konder, Rheinbrohl since June 1, 2006 Uwe Körner, Bad Münder since June 1, 2006 Lending Werner Grünewald, Essen Marc Heß, Bonn since November 13, 2006 Ingo Husemeyer, Remagen-Oberwinter Rainald Schomburg, Cologne Horst Willemse, Meckenheim since June 1, 2006 Product Marketing Gerhard Borchers, Kirchberg until May 31, 2006 Andreas Buck, Wachtberg Jürgen Gausepohl, Bonn Joachim O. Kühnemund, Bonn Michael Meyer, Bonn until May 31, 2006 Dieter Pfeiffenberger, Barsbüttel Wolfgang Lyding, Hanover since June 1, 2006 Andreas Martin, Rheinbreitbach until May 31, 2006 Anja Marzuillo, Bornheim since June 1, 2006 Hans-Joachim Neumann, Neu-Isenburg Services Mario Daberkow, Bonn until October 31, 2006 Hans Joachim Gasda, Coppenbrügge since June 1, 2006 Willi Kiebler, Rodenbach Albert Lechner, Mering Bernd Oletzky, Bonn since June 1, 2006 Volker Stadler, Bonn since June 1, 2006 Heinz Wachter, Marl Werner Wessinghage, Schwerte Jörg Wittenberg, Bonn 17

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23 Postbank as a branch bank A lot happened in my life in 2006: A move from Deutsche Post to Postbank, new challenges, new things to learn. As an adviser, I can now proudly offer an even more extensive service for all financial issues. Andrea Rautenberg, employee at a Postbank branch in Cologne The takeover of 850 retail outlets from Deutsche Post, including their employees, not only made economic sense, it was also an important strategic milestone: Postbank aims to become the leading financial services provider for private customers in Germany. This requires skilled, highly motivated employees. Intensive training on our products and on customer orientation has produced just that.

24 Strategy: Foundation laid for further growth Integration completed successfully Establishment of sales organization completed Target: To be Germany s number 1 financial services provider for private customers and positioned as service provider for companies Integration program completed ahead of schedule Our activities in 2006 were dominated by the integration of BHW and the acquired branches. The central integration project was completed by September 30, 2006, one quarter ahead of schedule. A major reason for early completion was that Postbank, BHW and the acquired retail outlets had very similar corporate cultures, which significantly facilitated the design of the new structures and the implementation of the measures. The most important milestones to integration were as follows: First quarter: Definition of the new organizational structure, including appointment of all future managers and definition of their areas of responsibility. This gave managers and employees a clear idea of the future structure of the new Postbank Group. May 24: Reconcilement of interests A reconcilement of interests was finalized with the employee representatives at a very early stage during the integration process. The agreement provided for socially responsible workforce adjustments affecting around 1,200 employees in the Postbank Group. The size of the workforce is being reduced through early retirement and termination agreements, without redundancies. The high degree of workforce acceptance facilitated the contractual agreement of 80 % of the job-reductionrelated termination agreements by mutual consent to have already taken place by

25 Strategy Postbank Group End of second quarter: Standardization of the regional structure of mobile and over-the-counter sales for senior management levels. July 17: Formation of Postbank Finanzberatung AG Following extensive technical and legal preparations, we merged BHW and Postbank s mobile sales organizations into a single entity, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, again ahead of schedule. The 4,350 mobile advisers, brought together under the umbrella of Postbank Finanzberatung, sell customers products of BHW, Postbank and selected third-party providers on behalf of the Postbank Group. This serves to realize the requirement of leveraging the enormous sales potential present in Postbank s customer base. July 20/21: BHW Holding AG resolves squeeze-out The ordinary Annual General Meeting of BHW Holding held on July 20 and 21, 2006 resolved to squeeze out the remaining minority shareholders. On completion of the procedure, Postbank will be the sole shareholder of BHW Holding AG. November 1: Merger of Postbank s and BHW s IT units The corporate IT department at BHW Bausparkasse AG was transferred to Postbank Systems AG, thus creating the conditions for greater synergies, especially with regard to the joint procurement of hardware and software. Following a strategic analysis of its investment portfolio, BHW Holding AG sold its subsidiaries Modrá Pyramida in the Czech Republic and BHW Rückversicherung. 21

26 Establishment of sales organization completed The acquisition of BHW and 850 Deutsche Post retail outlets at the beginning of 2006 was a quantum leap for Postbank s sales organization and gave a considerable boost to our multichannel strategy. With a total of 4,350 mobile advisers in the new Postbank Finanzberatung AG and 850 own branches, we are now able to offer considerably more comprehensive support to our customers. On the one hand, the objective is to achieve even greater customer satisfaction through an expanded advisory and service offer. Our other aim is to increase the product penetration throughout our customer base. This is how we will systematically boost the great earnings potential that, at our customer level of 14.6 million, is a given. In order that branch sales run in a more proactive and customer-oriented way, we launched a largescale training campaign in the year under review. The sales figures already mirror the success of the measures. We also profit from the competence gain through BHW: by deploying specially selected, mobile mortgage lending specialists at the branches, Postbank customers now also have direct access to the long-standing expertise of BHW in matters of home savings and mortgage lending. Also in 2006, we launched the Filiale im Wandel (Changing Branches) project, aimed at improving the look and feel and service quality of the branches and to increase awareness of the banking services on offer. This project will continue in More information on this may be found in the Retail Banking chapter. Activities in direct sales channels were coordinated with one another. Growth in Corporate Banking continues unabated In Corporate Banking, Postbank continues to focus on selected products and services, which are currently being sold to around 35,000 corporate customers. In addition to its consolidated market position in the area of payment solutions, the Corporate Banking division lays great emphasis on expanding existing customer relations from a value creation perspective. For this reason, it added products such as capital expenditure and development loans as well as balance-sheet management instruments to its offering in 2006, which will make an impact from It is also our intention to pursue risk-conscious growth in commercial real estate finance, in particular in the United Kingdom and selected regions of the USA. 22