NEWS RELEASE
BANK LEUMI (UK) plc and subsidiaries
Results for the half year to June 2007
(unaudited)
Bank Leumi (UK) plc group is pleased to announce its trading results for the first half of 2007.
Profit after tax was £6.6 million, 19% higher than the £5.5 million achieved for the same period in the previous year. The annualised post-tax return on equity amounts to 15.9% - a significant achievement and a record level of return.
Total income increased by 18% to £19.2 million compared to £16.3 million for the same period in the previous year, driven by increases in both interest and non-interest income.
Customer lending and deposits also reached record levels :
• Lending to customers was £904 million as at 30 June 2007. This represents an increase of 18% over the £768 million at the same date in the previous year, and an increase of 15% over the £788 million at 31 December 2006.
- Customer deposits reached £1,187 million, which is an increase of 20% compared to £992 million as at June 2006 and an increase of 14% over the £1,044 million recorded as at 31 December 2006.
Commenting on these results Baruch Lederman, Managing Director & CEO said :
“I am very pleased with these results. To achieve a return on equity in excess of 15% is a significant step for us and is a good reflection of the very positive progress we are making in all areas of our business. We will continue to look for sound, profitable opportunities for future growth in order to continue this upward trend.
Leumi ABL Ltd, our Factoring and Invoice Discounting subsidiary has made excellent progress from start up last year and is ahead of forecast.
We have recently established a representative office in Tel Aviv to market our Private Banking and Wealth Management capability, and we continue to improve on the quality and range of the Private Banking services delivered from our offices in London and Jersey.
All areas of our Corporate and Commercial Banking business have seen good growth – particularly in the areas of International Trade Finance and Property Finance.
Whilst the economic outlook now appears less certain than in recent years, the fundamentals within our business are sound and I look forward to the good news we have seen so far this year continuing into the second half.”
9th August 2007
(* In line with generally accepted accounting principles, the balance sheet and profit and loss account are presented in accordance with recent standards issued by the Accounting Standards Board as part of its convergence with IFRS. Therefore in the current period the bank has adopted FRS23, the applicable aspects of FRS25 and FRS26. Advantage has been taken of the exemption in FRS25 and 26 not to restate comparative information and care should therefore be taken when interpreting comparisons between 2006and 2007)
(The interim figures quoted above are unaudited. The financial information relating to the year ended 31 December 2006 was extracted from the latest financial statements which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on these financial statements was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 237 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information summarised above does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985).
Note to Editors
Bank Leumi (UK) provides financial services to UK and International clients through its Head Office in London; Northern branch based in Manchester; Offshore Banking and Trust subsidiaries in Jersey; and its Factoring and Invoice Discounting subsidiary in Brighton.
The Bank’s main areas of activity include trade finance, with a particular expertise in financing cross border trading in commodities and financing trade with Israel; commercial and residential property finance in the UK; providing general commercial finance to a wide range of businesses and the financing of the media sector, particularly film and television production, where the Bank has extensive experience. The Bank also specialises in UK and International Private Banking and Wealth Management. Private Banking Relationship Managers offer advisory investment management services as well as an extensive choice of deposits and investment accounts including structured products. Working closely with the Bank’s Treasury Department, services such as foreign exchange, money market and derivatives for hedging purposes are also provided.
Bank Leumi (UK) is a subsidiary of the Bank Leumi le-Israel Group which has assets approaching $60 billion. The group has a dominant share of the domestic Israeli banking market and the largest overseas network of any Israeli bank, with more than 50 offices in 20 countries around the world.
For further information, please contact:
Moshe Langerman
020 7907 8031
mlangerman@bankleumi.co.uk
www.bankleumi.co.uk
