Newly privatised Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCB) doubled its new shipping business in 2018 as provisions shrank.
In its finalised report for 2018, the lender said it agreed new shipping loans worth EUR 1bn ($1.12bn), up from EUR 500m in 2017 and up EUR 100m from its previous earnings release in February.
Loan provisions were cut to EUR 316m against EUR 2.08bn in 2017.
It said it set aside the amount "with a view to the mounting economic uncertainties in Europe and possible worldwide trade disputes as well as for individual exposures."
The non-performing exposure ratio dropped to about 2% from 10.4% at the end of 2017, due to the virtually complete disposal of non-performing loans in the wake of privatisation.
Net profit for the year was EUR 77m, against a loss of EUR 528m.
Interest income was up at EUR 1.59bn from EUR 880m in 2017.
“We generated a respectable group net result in the ground-breaking year of 2018, despite all the uncertainties and difficulties in the wake of privatisation. We will now do everything to develop our bank into an appropriately profitable one," CEO Stefan Ermisch said.
"To do so, we shall continue to resolutely drive forward the transformation that has already begun with all our energy. Our objective is to be a more efficient and responsive bank, which places the client centre-stage more than ever and generates added value for its shareholders.”
The lender was bought last year by private equity funds including Cerberus Capital Management and JC Flowers, and renamed in February.
