RBI: Preliminary 2015 consolidated profit of EUR 383 million (press release):

Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) announces a preliminary 2015 consolidated profit of EUR 383 million.

This is above the guidance previously given, primarily due to lower than expected net provisioning for impairment losses of EUR 1,266 million, 28 percent below 2014. This development was spread across a number of markets. General administrative expenses were EUR 2,915 million, 4 per cent below the prior year.

Transformation program costs in 2015 were approximately EUR 90 million, in line with guidance. FY 2015 guidance had also included goodwill impairment charges and risk costs amounting to EUR 124.1 million, which were reallocated to FY 2014 in the course of a restatement.

This restatement arose from a routine examination of RBI by the Austrian Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel under Section 2 (1) 2 of the Accounting Control Act. RBI expects to receive formal notification in the coming months confirming the result. The examination covered the consolidated 2014 financial statements and 2015 semi-annual report.

The reallocation of the EUR 124.1 million led to a revision of the FY 2014 consolidated loss to EUR 616.8 million. Consequently, these charges are not reflected in the FY 2015 consolidated statements.

The EUR 124.1 million consists of two factors: a EUR 93.4 million goodwill impairment charge relating to Raiffeisen Polbank and EUR 34.1 million in net provisioning costs, resulting in additional deferred tax income of EUR 3.4 million.

The restatement has a negligible impact on regulatory capital ratios.
Based on preliminary data, total RWA were approximately EUR 63 billion as of 31 December 2015 and the reported CET1 ratio (fully loaded) was approximately 11.5 per cent.

The management board will recommend to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend is paid for the 2015 financial year.