News
2016 Financial Results
7 February 2017
PARIS - In 2016, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) successfully achieved and exceeded the activity objectives set in the Development Plan 2014-2016. Its sound financial performance enabled the CEB to pursue its social mandate in Europe.
The CEB’s unaudited results show that net profit reached € 104.9 million in 2016, compared to € 127.0 million in 2015 (-17.4%), mainly resulting from the decrease of € 21.5 million (-12.3%) in net banking income for the following reasons:
• the negative variation of € 6.8 million in the net interest margin due to the lower return on the fixed rate long-term portfolio for financial assets related to lower interest rates and reduced volume, and
• the negative impact of € 6.1 million in the valuation of derivative financial instruments (IFRS volatility effects) in 2016 compared to a positive impact of € 8.7 million in 2015.
However, excluding the IFRS volatility effects, which have no economic or financial impact on the CEB, core earnings amounted to € 111.0 million in 2016, only decreasing by 6.2% compared to € 118.3 million in 2015.
Equity rose by 3.5% from € 2.7 billion in 2015 to € 2.8 billion in 2016 after profit allocation.
In 2016, the CEB achieved record highs in its business activity objectives. 35 new projects were approved in 2016 reaching € 3.5 billion, a significant increase of 50% compared to 2015 (€ 2.3 billion for 22 projects). The stock of projects rose considerably by 19.7% totalling € 5.6 billion in 2016 (2015: € 4.7 billion) and loan disbursements amounted to € 2.0 billion in 2016, i.e. +10.5% compared to € 1.8 billion in 2015. Loans outstanding reached € 13.7 billion, an increase of 4.9% compared to € 13.1 billion in 2015.
The CEB expects to pursue this excellent performance level during 2017 as set out in the objectives of the new Development Plan 2017-2019.
Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.