Annual report 2009 - Dexia.com

Activity and results of the business lines // Retail and Commercial BankingIn 2009, total deposits reached EUR 81.0 billion, an increaseof EUR 8.2 billion (or 11%). The search for security directedsavings and investment flows towards long-term balancesheetproducts, such as savings accounts, savings bonds andbond issues. Deposit growth, encompassing sight accountsand term deposits, was remarkable in Turkey: DenizBankincreased its assets by more than 20% over the year by virtueof concentrated sales efforts involving these products inall segments.• Savings account assets, at EUR 32.6 billion at year-end2009, rose strongly. EUR 8.4 billion (+34% since year-end2008) was collected over the year as a consequence of theinfluence of rate evolution, the transfer from term investmentsto savings accounts and the clear increase of householdsavings rates (reaching approximately 18% in Belgium).Internet savings accounts represent approximately one fifthof the total in Belgium. The trend favouring savings accountswas particularly clear in Luxembourg, with assets multipliedby 3.5 over the year.• Savings bonds, at EUR 13 billion at year-end 2009, werealso extremely successful (EUR 7.1 billion collected over theyear). By way of example, the collection of “savings bondsfor local projects”, the subject of an institutional campaignon the theme of local authority project finance by individualinvestment attracted more than EUR 1 billion in four weeks.• The structured bonds issued by the Group (EUR 12.2 billionat year-end 2009), principally via Dexia Funding Netherlandswhich launched seven major issues at the beginning of 2009,recorded growth of 4% compared with last year. In Luxembourg,the emphasis placed via targeted sales campaigns onguaranteed-capital investment products enabled an increaseof almost 50% to be achieved in structured products issuedby Dexia.Notwithstanding the positive market effect, clients’ risk aversionis reflected by a 2% fall of off-balance-sheet assets(including life insurance products) to EUR 47.7 billion, includinga 15% fall of mutual funds. Life insurance technicalreserves were almost stable at EUR 10.8 billion (or -2%compared to 2008).Total customer assets were EUR 128.8 billion at the end ofDecember 2009, an increase of 6% essentially resulting fromthe considerable increase of customer deposits.Despite the economic downturn, customer loans increasedby EUR 1.7 billion in 2009 to reach EUR 50.8 billion at yearend2009. Mortgage loans increased by 4% and businessloans by 5%. Belgium and Turkey were the main contributorsto this growth.In Belgium, the client base grew by 3.5% to reach 4.5 millionclients, including insurance activities. Client satisfactionsurveys largely improved over the year in most valuable clientsegments. Furthermore Dexia launched a programme todeploy its new retail platform representing a EUR 350 millioninvestment including EUR 105 million in 2009: 133 openand cashless branches were opened during the year, out ofa target of 308 in 2011, and 400 additional account managerswere appointed. This new concept was greeted by strongcustomer acceptance. Marketing campaigns helped the Groupaggressively to regain share of voice in communication andsupported the collection of deposits. All this contributed to agrowth of EUR 7.2 billion (+14%) of deposits over the year.Loans grew by 5% driven by business and mortgage loans.In Luxembourg, the franchise remained resilient despite aturbulent environment. There was a slight increase in internationalprivate banking assets and the Group’s local marketshare remained stable. Advertising campaigns were launchedfrom the second quarter on the individual and professionalclient segments. In private banking, sales momentum and afavourable market effect enabled the franchise to be maintainedthroughout the year.In Turkey, the dynamic expansion of DenizBank’s retail platformwas confirmed through the acquisition of 615,000 newretail and business customers (+20% over the year) and theopening of 50 new branches. The bank’s renown increasedand DenizBank moved from the 9th to the 6th place in termsof public recognition. At the end of December 2009, customerassets reached TRY 14.7 billion (EUR 7.3 billion), a24% increase on year-end 2008. Loans reached TRY 18.6 billionat year-end 2009 (EUR 8.7 billion), up 7% on year-end2008. As a consequence, the loan-deposit ratio improvedstrongly (126% at year-end 2009 against 146% at year-end2008).In 2010, Dexia will pursue the deployment of its new distributionmodel in Belgium, leverage its wealth managementcapabilities and client base in Luxembourg to strengthen itsprivate banking activities and capitalise on a strong commercialmomentum in Turkey.In accordance with the agreement with the European Commissionon Dexia’s restructuring plan, the decision was takento sell Dexia banka Slovensko in Slovakia (85.5% stake) andto divest or float DenizEmeklilik, the insurance subsidiary ofDenizBank in Turkey, by 31 October 2012.The agreement with the European Commission is detailed inthe chapter “2009 and early 2010 highlights” on pages 12-14of this annual report.Management reportConsolidatedfinancial statementsAnnual financial statementsAdditional informationAnnual report 2009 Dexia 75