Achmea Bank

Achmea Bank N.V. has decided to suspend dividend distributions to its shareholder until there is greater clarity regarding the impact of the coronavirus. By taking this action, the company follows the call from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). In the second half of 2020, Achmea Bank will determine if a distribution on the shares can still be made, based on developments related to the coronavirus and the financial position. 

The ECB and DNB have recently urged banks to maintain their financial buffers and to refrain from dividend distributions at this moment. This is because the impact of the coronavirus on the economy is significant and the scale and duration of the crisis are still uncertain.  

Although Achmea Bank's solvency and liquidity position is robust, Achmea Bank has decided to follow the ECB's and DNB's call to suspend the dividend payment until further notice. 

Achmea Bank’s Annual General Meeting will be held shortly. In  this meeting, it will be proposed to add the 2019 profit to the reserves. 

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.”

• Achmea Bank N.V. reported a 2019 profit of EUR 50 million, EUR 37 million after tax (2018: EUR 39 million, after tax EUR 29 million)
• The Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio remains strong at 19.2% (2018: 20.8%)
• Achmea Bank completed the acquisition of a.s.r. banking activities and a mortgage portfolio acquisition within Achmea

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.