Achmea Bank is part of Achmea, the largest insurance company in the Netherlands, with a cooperative background. We offer savings and mortgage products through the Centraal Beheer and Woonfonds brands.
24-03-2020
Mortgage customers of Achmea Bank who are unable to pay their mortgage payments due to the corona crisis, will be allowed to make use of a 3-month payment holiday. This applies to mortgage customers of the labels Centraal Beheer and Woonfonds.
With this payment holiday customers temporarily do not have to pay interest and principal on their mortgage loan. By deferring the mortgage payments to a later date, it is more likely that customers can continue living in their home. This is one of solutions that Achmea Bank offers to its mortgage customers with financial problems. We investigate the best solution for our customers on a case by case basis.
Pierre Huurman, Chairman of the Board of Achmea Bank: “We are currently getting a lot of questions from customers who are concerned about their mortgage payments. Especially from independent entrepreneurs who are directly affected by the corona crisis. We always consult with the customer to determine what is the most suitable solution. This is always a tailormade solution, in which we take the personal situation of the customer as our starting point. Through this measure, we offer temporary financial relief to bridge this difficult period.”
13-03-2020
Achmea Bank reported a profit before tax of EUR 50 million in 2019 (2018 EUR 39 million). This result includes an accounting result of EUR 18 million, which relates to the a.s.r. transaction.
The operating result for 2019, excluding this accounting result and fair value result, declined from EUR 39 million in 2018 to EUR 34 million in 2019. The decline in the operational result is mainly due to higher operating expenses of EUR 26 million partly compensated by higher interest margin of EUR 15 million and increased fee income of EUR 4 million. EUR 15 million of the higher operating expenses is due to a policy change by Achmea with respect to cost allocation within the group, EUR 5 million is due to increased project costs.
In 2019, Achmea Bank completed two balance sheet transactions. One is the acquisition of the a.s.r. banking activities which includes a mortgage portfolio (EUR 1.4 billion), the other is a mortgage portfolio of Achmea Pensioen- en Levensverzekeringen N.V. (EUR 0.6 billion). In 2019 the production of new mortgages increased sharply with EUR 0.9 billion to EUR 1.8 billion, of which EUR 1 billion for Achmea Pensioen- en Levensverzekeringen N.V. (2018 EUR 0.3 billion). Combined with the acquired portfolios and prepayments of EUR 1.2 billion, the regular mortgage portfolio of Achmea Bank increased with EUR 1.6 billion in 2019. Also Achmea Bank introduced a new niche proposition, the revolving credit mortgage in 2019, next to the existing Buy-to-Let and self-employed propositions.
Achmea Group has the ambition to grow in the mortgage market. In line with this ambition, Achmea will concentrate its operational mortgage activities at one location in Amsterdam. The commercial activities will be concentrated in Apeldoorn. For Achmea Bank this means transferring its mortgage operations activities from Tilburg to Amsterdam and its commercial activities to Apeldoorn. The expected reorganisation costs of EUR 3 million are provisioned for and included in the operating expenses of 2019.
The savings portfolio increased to EUR 7.1 billion (2018 EUR 5.7 billion), mainly driven by the acquisition of the a.s.r. saving portfolio of EUR 1.5 billion. In 2019 Achmea Bank redeemed EUR 0.6 billion RMBS notes and issued a conditional pass through covered bond of EUR 0.5 billion. The Bank has a diversified funding mix and retained its sound liquidity position with liquidity ratios well above internal and external limits. The Bank uses retail financing as well as unsecured and secured wholesale financing. In addition the Bank maintains different maturity profiles in its funding instruments to prevent potential future refinancing concentration risk.
The Total Capital ratio remained strong at 19.2% (2018: 20.9%). The Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) Capital ratio decreased to 19.2% as per December 2019 (20.8% at the end of 2018), mainly due to the acquired mortgage portfolios. Achmea Bank currently applies the standardized approach to calculate the risk weighting of its assets. Achmea Bank is working towards the implementation of Advanced Internal Rating Based (AIRB) models.
In line with the dividend policy, Achmea Bank proposes to pay out a total dividend of EUR 23 million.
Mark Geubbels has been appointed Chief Financial & Risk Officer of Achmea Bank as of 16 December 2019 and replaces Pieter Emmen who stepped down per 6 September 2019. Per 31 December 2019, the Executive Board of Achmea Bank consists of Pierre Huurman (chairman) and Mark Geubbels.
Since year-end 2018 Achmea Bank has retained its Issuer Default Rating of A/Stable (Fitch). Standard and Poor’s revised the Issuer Credit Rating Outlook per 31 March 2019 from A-/ negative to A-/stable.
22-01-2020
Robert Otto has been appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board of Achmea Bank as of 21 January 2020. Robert Otto succeeds Bianca Tetteroo who will step down at the same time.
Robert Otto has been a member of the Executive Board of Achmea since August 2015 and he has recently been made responsible for Achmea Bank. In addition, his portfolio includes the foreign Operating Companies, the Pension & Life division, InShared and Human Resources.
Bianca Tetteroo has been a member of the Executive Board of Achmea since June 2015. She became vice-chair in January 2020. She was a member of the Achmea Bank Supervisory Board since August 2017.
From 21 January 2020, the Supervisory Board of Achmea Bank will consist of Huub Arendse (chairman), Jan Molenaar, Henny te Beest and Robert Otto.
Achmea is one of the largest employers in the financial services industry in The Netherlands.
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Achmea Bank is part of Achmea, the largest insurer in the Netherlands. We provide mortgages and savings products to private individuals under the brand names Centraal Beheer and Woonfonds. We complement Achmea's insurance propositions with savings and mortgage products. In doing so, we strive for the full trust of all our stakeholders: customers, distribution partners, employees, regulators, investors and the shareholder.
