Bonum Bank Plc: Half-year report for 1 January – 30 June 2020
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18 August 2020 at 8.45 am
Bonum Bank Plc: Half-year report for 1 January – 30 June 2020
The POP Bank Group’s new strategy and renewal programme, which was adopted in early 2020, has diversified Bonum Bank Plc’s role as the central credit institution of the amalgamation of POP Banks, as well as its role as a service provider. The Group’s operations aim at developing both profitable business and the customer experience, whilst extensively digitalising services.
In February, Bonum Bank Plc established a service centre in Vaasa. In line with the renewal programme, the customer service operations of the amalgamation’s member banks were centralised in the service centre, which is now responsible for the chat service, among others, and has received more enquiries than expected. With regard to digital services, Bonum Bank Plc has continued to robotise existing processes, and has also actively participated in the renewal
of the POP Bank Group’s core banking system.
Bonum Bank Plc issued two senior unsecured notes with floating interest rates during the spring, and participated in the European Central Bank’s TLTRO III financing operation in June.
The Bank’s own external business operations grew rapidly during the first half of 2020, and the growth outlook for the second half was good. However, the outlook changed rapidly because of the exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
S&P Global Ratings affirmed Bonum Bank’s rating of BBB for long-term investment grade, and A-2 for short-term investment grade, in May. Whilst the credit rating remained unchanged, the outlook changed from stable to negative because of the general economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
The earnings of Bonum Bank Plc during the reporting period grew by 48.5 per cent on the comparison period. The profit for the period was EUR 561 thousand (EUR 264 thousand negative in the comparison period), and the balance sheet total was EUR 906,208 thousand (EUR 588,361 thousand).
Bonum Bank’s role as a service provider to the banks in the amalgamation is strengthening, and its service centre for the POP Banks will continue to be actively developed. The full-year result is expected to be positive, although the formation of the result involves some uncertainty arising from impairment provisions and credit losses related to the increase in lending.
| Key figures (EUR 1,000) | 30 June 2020 | 30 June 2019 | 31 December 2019 |
| Net interest income | 3,715 | 1,510 | 4,196 |
| Net commission income | 3,575 | 3,239 | 7,064 |
| Earnings | 561 | -264 | 242 |
| Balance sheet total | 906,208 | 588,536 | 588,631 |
| Total capital ratio (TC), % | 24.7 | 33.7 | 29.7 |
| Cost-to-income ratio, % | 69.8 | 96.7 | 84.6 |
| ROA, % | 0.2 | -0.1 | 0.0 |
| ROE, % | 3.4 | -1.7 | 0.8 |
| Equity ratio, % | 3.6 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
Bonum Bank Plc: Half-year report for 1 January – 30 June 2020
Bonum Bank Plc is part of the amalgamation of POP Banks and is responsible for providing central credit institution services to 26 POP Banks. Its role as the central credit institution is to ensure the POP Banks’ liquidity and wholesale funding, in addition to managing payment transmissions for the POP Bank Group. Bonum Bank is also responsible for issuing payment cards and card credit facilities to the POP Banks’ customers, as well as for maintaining these services.
For further information, please contact:
Pia Ali-Tolppa, CEO, Bonum Bank Plc, tel. +358 50 303 1476, pia.ali-tolppa@poppankki.fi
Pekka Lemettinen, Chairman of the Board, POP Bank Centre coop, tel. +358 40 5035 411, pekka.lemettinen@poppankki.fi
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Key media outlets
www.poppankki.fi
