Aareal Bank doubles new property loans in Q2

German lender Aareal Bank said it was on track to achieve its full-year business targets after doubling its new property financing volume in the second quarter of 2013.

The Wiesbaden-based bank boosted new business in the structured property financing segment to €2.4 bn in Q2, twice the amount reported for the same quarter last year.

Second-quarter consolidated operating profit amounted to €45 mln, matching the result achieved in the same quarter of 2012 and falling only marginally short of the €47 mln reported in the previous quarter.

Consolidated net income was down slightly at €21 mln year-on-year, reflecting a higher full-year tax rate.

‘At the mid-year point, we see no relief to the challenging environment for the banking sector, given the prevailing economic weakness in numerous markets, and increasingly demanding regulation,’ said Wolf Schumacher, chairman of Aareal Bank’s management board.

‘The fact that we continued to perform well in these circumstances once again demonstrates the viability of our business model with the two strong pillars of Structured Property Financing and Consulting/Services. We thus remain on track for achieving our targets for the year,’ he added.