Berliner Sparkasse more than tripled its profit in 2022. Pre-tax profit climbed to 131 million euros, significantly exceeding the forecast of around 85 million euros, according to Germany's largest savings bank by customers.
Against the background of the difficult market environment, the success is not a matter of course, but the "result of long, hard work," said CEO Johannes Evers. For 2023, he is cautiously optimistic about achieving a profit at the previous year's level.
"The pain of custody fees is gone," said the manager with a view to the interest rate turnaround of the European Central Bank (ECB). Banks had to pay penalty interest for a long time on money they parked at the central bank. For their part, the institutions therefore demanded negative interest rates from their customers.
Reduced administrative costs
The Sparkasse increased its new lending business, net interest income and net commission income. In addition, administrative costs decreased. Like many other banks, the Berlin-based institute had to endure valuation corrections for fixed-interest securities due to the ECB's abrupt interest rate turnaround.
Value adjustments amounted to EUR 17 million. Through prudent management, depreciation was kept comparatively low, it was said. Nationwide, the German savings banks spent around 7.8 billion euros last year. The losses are considered temporary if the savings banks hold the investments until maturity.