In the beginning, it was important to Thomas Groß to do away with a prejudice that is occasionally served, especially abroad. Germany as a location is much better positioned for the future than many observers, "especially internationally", would have us believe. This is reflected not only in the record result of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, Helaba for short, which is managed by Groß. According to Groß, this result is also based on the fact that the Landesbank's corporate customers have come through the crises of recent years well: "The companies of this country have proven to be resilient, flexible and adaptable."

Daniel Schleidt

Coordinator of the business editorial department in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The Landesbank's balance sheet therefore shows significantly fewer loan defaults than feared at the start of the energy crisis, as Board member Detlef Hosemann explained. "We do not currently see any uncontrollable risks for our customers," says Hosemann about the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Customers are able to pass on higher energy prices, have partially hedged these prices and benefit from government support programs.

Pre-tax profit of EUR 633 million

For example, the net exposure, i.e. the portfolio potentially affected by an energy crisis, amounts to EUR 28 billion, while five billion are classified as potentially more severely affected – "however, this impact is not to be equated with an acute risk of default," assured Hosemann, referring to Helaba's portfolio quality.

As CEO Groß repeated several times, Helaba's business model has recently focused on diversification and is doing well with it. For example, the bank, which employs 6300 people, has opened up new areas of income and, for example, advises customers on the subject of sustainable finance. In addition, asset management at Helaba subsidiary Frankfurter Bankgesellschaft was expanded, as was Helaba Invest's asset management.

At the same time, Groß is focusing on bundling competencies with other Landesbanken. "We are firmly convinced that existing strengths of the Savings Banks Finance Group can be expanded and that not everyone has to do everything," emphasized Groß. At the beginning of the week, the Sparkassen-Verband Hessen-Thüringen – Helaba's largest owner with almost 69 percent – expressed the hope that the future president of the association, Ulrich Reuter, would give new impetus in the direction of a central institution for the Savings Banks Finance Group.

But the past financial year was also successful for the Landesbank on its own: pre-tax profit rose by 11.3 percent to EUR 633 million. "We achieved Helaba's best result without significant special effects," said Groß, who was able to announce growth in both net interest and net commission income. After Groß took office on 1 June 2020, the Helaba Management Board had set itself the goal of achieving an annual pre-tax profit of at least EUR 500 million in the following years.