AI Terminal

MODULE: AI_ANALYST
Interactive Q&A, Risk Assessment, Summarization
MODULE: DATA_EXTRACT
Excel Export, XBRL Parsing, Table Digitization
MODULE: PEER_COMP
Sector Benchmarking, Sentiment Analysis
SYSTEM ACCESS LOCKED
Authenticate / Register Log In

FinecoBank

Quarterly Report May 12, 2015

4321_10-q_2015-05-12_3051144b-19c0-49f8-b4c6-20a8f725813d.pdf

Quarterly Report

Open in Viewer

Opens in native device viewer

INTERIM FINANCIAL REPORT AS AT MARCH 31, 2015

SEMPLICE E TRASPARENTE LA BANCA CHE SEMPLIFICA LA BANCA

FinecoBank S.p.A. Interim Financial Report as at March 31, 2015

Contents

Board of Directors and Board of Statutory Auditors 2

Interim Financial Report 4
-- -------------------------- -- ---
  • Introduction to the Interim Financial Report 5
  • Summary data 7
    • Key figures 11
  • Fineco shares 13
  • Business performance and main initiatives during the year 13
  • Main balance sheet aggregates 19
  • Capital resources and prudential requirements 31
    • Income Statement Figures 32
    • Related-Party Transactions 40
    • Subsequent Events and Outlook 43
    • Balance Sheet and Income Statement 44
    • Balance Sheet 45
    • Income Statement 46
  • Reconciliation of condensed accounts to mandatory reporting schedule 47
  • Declaration of the Nominated Official in charge of drawing up Company Accounts 50

Registered office

20131 Milan - Piazza Durante, 11

"FinecoBank Banca Fineco S.p.A."

in abbreviated form "FinecoBank S.p.A.", or "Banca Fineco S.p.A." or "Fineco Banca S.p.A." Company controlled by UniCredit S.p.A., Gruppo Bancario UniCredit, Register of Banking Groups no. 2008.1, Member of the National Guarantee Fund and National Interbank Deposit Guarantee Fund, Italian Banking Association Code 03015, Tax Code and Milan Company Register no. 01392970404 – R.E.A. (Economic and Administrative Index) no. 1598155, VAT No. 12962340159

Board of Directors and Board of Statutory Auditors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND BOARD OF STATUTORY AUDITORS

Board of Directors

Chairman Enrico Cotta Ramusino
Vice Chairman Francesco Saita
Managing Director
and General Manager Alessandro Foti
Directors Gianluigi Bertolli
Girolamo Ielo
Laura Stefania Penna
Mariangela Grosoli

Marina Natale

Pietro Angelo Guindani

Board of Statutory Auditors

Chairman Gian-Carlo Noris Gaccioli
Standing Auditors Barbara Aloisi
Marziano Viozzi
Alternate Auditors Federica Bonato
Marzio Duilio Rubagotti

External Auditors

Deloitte & Touche S.p.A.

Nominated Official in charge of drawing up Company Accounts

Lorena Pelliciari

Interim Financial Report

INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERIM FINANCIAL REPORT

This Interim Financial Report as at March 31, 2015 has been prepared in accordance with art. 154-ter, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998; it includes:

  • the interim report on operations, which includes the condensed accounts, and comments on the results for the period and on significant events;
  • the Bank's Financial Statements, presented with a comparison to those of 2014; specifically, the balance sheet figures have been compared with those as at December 31, 2014, while the income statement figures have been compared with the corresponding figures as at March 31, 2014;
  • the Declaration of the Nominated Official in charge of drawing up Company Accounts.

This Interim Financial Report as at March 31, 2015 has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria set out in the international accounting standards IAS/IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and approved by the European Commission.

With regard to the classification and valuation of the main items, please refer to Part A.2 of the Notes to the Financial Statements as at December 31, 2014. In this respect ,it should be noted that, there have been no changes in estimate criteria compared to those applied in the preparation of financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014, but Bank of Italy has revised the criteria to be applied as of January 1, 2015 for classifying impaired financial assets (see 7th update of Circular no. 272 of July 30, 2008 - "Matrix of accounts" issued by the Bank of Italy on January 20, 2015), in order to align them to the new definitions of Non-Performing Exposures and Forbearance introduced by the European Banking Authority in the "Final Draft Implementing Technical Standards on Supervisory reporting on forbearance and non-performing exposures" (EBA/ITS /2013/03/rev1 24/7/2014).The main novelties are the elimination of the "Problem Loan" and "Restructured Loans" categories, and the introduction of the new "Unlikely to pay" category and of the "Forbearance" concept, which cuts through all receivables categories, both performing and impaired.

Consequently, for the purposes of like-for-like comparison, the corresponding figures relating to the previous year have been restated.

It should also be noted that, starting from January 1, 2015 the condensed accounts used in the interim report on operations were modified; specifically, "Adjustments of leasehold improvements" were attributed to the item "Other administrative expenses" (whilst previously they were attributed to the item "Net other expenses/income"), and "Impairment losses on other assets" pertaining to "ex-post" contributions to the Interbank Fund for the Protection of Deposits were attributed to the item "Provision for risks and charges" (previously, they had been attributed to the item "Net adjustments to loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments"). For greater detail, see the "Reconciliation of condensed accounts to mandatory reporting schedule" Annexed to this document.

Finally, please note that European Directive no. 49/2014 relating to the deposit guarantee systems, which is due to be transposed into national law in 2015, introduces significant changes to the previously existing national guarantee funds. As a matter of fact, the new directive – within a framework of substantial legal, organizational and operational continuity – requires the adoption of an "ex ante" contribution mechanism, aimed at establishing a target amount of funds by 2024.The previous guarantee schemes that have operated so far according to an "ex post" system (i.e., involving the payment of contributions to fund individual actions taken in relation to depositors of a bank in difficulty) will therefore be required to adopt an ex-ante funding scheme. These include the National Interbank Deposit Guarantee Fund of which the Bank is a member. In addition, European Directive no. 59/2014 on recovery and resolution of credit institutions, has introduced a requirement for credit institutions to make payments in order to establish the European Single Resolution Fund, with the aim of establishing a target amount of funds by 2024. In the first quarter of 2015 no costs were recorded with respect to the relevant Directives, since they are yet to be transposed into national law.

SUMMARY DATA

Condensed Accounts

Balance Sheet

Amounts as at Changes
ASSETS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Cash and cash equivalents 10 5 5 100.0%
Financial assets held for trading 5,609 3,054 2,555 83.7%
Loans and receivables with banks 14,070,077 13,892,197 177,880 1.3%
Loans and receivables with customers 796,879 695,594 101,285 14.6%
Financial investments flow 2,264,284 1,695,555 568,729 33.5%
Hedging instruments 24,508 24,274 234 1.0%
Property, plant and equipment 11,161 10,892 269 2.5%
Goodwill 89,602 89,602 - -
Other intangible assets 7,989 8,142 (153) -1.9%
Tax assets 13,414 18,550 (5,136) -27.7%
Other assets 215,368 326,756 (111,388) -34.1%
Total assets 17,498,901 16,764,621 734,280 4.4%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Amounts as at Changes
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Deposits from banks 1,466,357 1,428,568 37,789 2.6%
Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712 688,744 4.9%
Debt securities in issue 427,884 424,710 3,174 0.7%
Financial liabilities held for trading 4,557 3,135 1,422 45.4%
Hedging instruments 46,933 46,220 713 1.5%
Provisions for risks and charges 114,680 118,031 (3,351) -2.8%
Tax liabilities 55,688 33,358 22,330 66.9%
Other liabilities 169,052 243,633 (74,581) -30.6%
Shareholders' Equity 610,294 552,254 58,040 10.5%
- capital and reserves
- revaluation reserves (available-for-sale financial assets -
554,027 400,085 153,942 38.5%
actuarial gains (losses) for defined benefits plans)
- net profit (loss)
8,485
47,782
2,262
149,907
6,223
(102,125)
275.1%
-68.1%
Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 17,498,901 16,764,621 734,280 4.4%

Balance Sheet - Quarterly data

Amounts as at
ASSETS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 09.30.2014 06.30.2014 03.31.2014
Cash and cash equivalents 10 5 9 14 7
Financial assets held for trading 5,609 3,054 4,708 10,407 8,405
Loans and receivables with banks 14,070,077 13,892,197 13,612,912 13,476,117 17,084,534
Loans and receivables with customers 796,879 695,594 700,208 696,142 669,141
Financial investments flow 2,264,284 1,695,555 1,716,878 1,715,320 93,934
Hedging instruments 24,508 24,274 23,494 35,637 130,687
Property, plant and equipment 11,161 10,892 10,901 11,391 10,718
Goodwill 89,602 89,602 89,602 89,602 89,602
Other intangible assets 7,989 8,142 8,100 7,915 8,055
Tax assets 13,414 18,550 17,164 20,072 26,992
Other assets 215,368 326,756 227,200 227,865 170,281
Total assets 17,498,901 16,764,621 16,411,176 16,290,482 18,292,356

(Amounts in € thousand)

Amounts as at
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 09.30.2014 06.30.2014 03.31.2014
Deposits from banks 1,466,357 1,428,568 1,282,386 1,026,852 1,590,439
Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712 13,741,345 13,911,224 13,473,654
Debt securities in issue 427,884 424,710 423,842 421,965 2,322,527
Financial liabilities held for trading 4,557 3,135 4,647 4,867 7,902
Hedging instruments 46,933 46,220 45,195 48,960 130,411
Provisions for risks and charges 114,680 118,031 104,876 106,574 105,412
Tax liabilities 55,688 33,358 47,999 30,156 17,342
Other liabilities 169,052 243,633 246,862 268,182 188,903
Shareholders' Equity 610,294 552,254 514,024 471,702 455,766
- capital and reserves 554,027 400,085 396,179 392,928 414,934
- revaluation reserves (available-for-sale financial assets -
actuarial gains (losses) for defined benefits plans)
- net profit (loss)
8,485
47,782
2,262
149,907
8,581
109,264
4,912
73,862
3,906
36,926
Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 17,498,901 16,764,621 16,411,176 16,290,482 18,292,356

Income Statement

1Q Changes
2015 2014 absolute %
Net interest 57,586 58,333 (747) -1.3%
Net fee and commission income 61,681 47,718 13,963 29.3%
Net trading, hedging and fair value income 17,059 7,079 9,980 141.0%
Net other expenses/income 358 (41) 399 n.c.
OPERATING INCOME 136,684 113,089 23,595 20.9%
Payroll costs (18,385) (15,770) (2,615) 16.6%
Other administrative expenses (60,401) (52,735) (7,666) 14.5%
Recovery of expenses 21,012 18,807 2,205 11.7%
Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
on intangible and tangible assets (2,027) (1,905) (122) 6.4%
Operating costs (59,801) (51,603) (8,198) 15.9%
OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 76,883 61,486 15,397 25.0%
Net impairment losses on
loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments (1,583) (465) (1,118) 240.4%
NET OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 75,300 61,021 14,279 23.4%
Provisions for risks and charges (3,115) (3,373) 258 -7.6%
PROFIT (LOSS) BEFORE TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 72,185 57,648 14,537 25.2%
Income tax for the period (24,403) (20,722) (3,681) 17.8%
PROFIT (LOSS) AFTER TAX FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 47,782 36,926 10,856 29.4%
PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE PERIOD 47,782 36,926 10,856 29.4%

Income statement - Quarterly data

2015 2014
1Q 4Q 3Q 2Q 1Q
Net interest 57,586 55,875 56,432 57,607 58,333
Net fee and commission income 61,681 52,884 45,831 49,311 47,718
Net trading, hedging and fair value income 17,059 10,331 6,522 5,810 7,079
Net other expenses/income 358 (1,289) (1,302) 42 (41)
OPERATING INCOME 136,684 117,801 107,483 112,770 113,089
Payroll costs (18,385) (19,283) (18,033) (16,065) (15,770)
Other administrative expenses (60,401) (52,311) (50,443) (55,829) (52,735)
Recovery of expenses 21,012 20,420 19,208 18,735 18,807
Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
on intangible and tangible assets (2,027) (2,634) (2,233) (2,037) (1,905)
Operating costs (59,801) (53,808) (51,501) (55,196) (51,603)
OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 76,883 63,993 55,982 57,574 61,486
Net impairment losses on
loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments (1,583) (1,204) (685) (826) (465)
NET OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 75,300 62,789 55,297 56,748 61,021
Provisions for risks and charges (3,115) (2,493) (677) 422 (3,373)
Net income from investment - - (4) - -
PROFIT (LOSS) BEFORE TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 72,185 60,296 54,616 57,170 57,648
Income tax for the period (24,403) (19,653) (19,214) (20,234) (20,722)
NET PROFIT (LOSS) AFTER TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 47,782 40,643 35,402 36,936 36,926
PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE PERIOD 47,782 40,643 35,402 36,936 36,926

(Amounts in € thousand)

Main balance sheet figures

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Loans receivable with ordinary customers (1) 469,872 478,752 (8,880) -1.9%
Total assets 17,498,901 16,764,621 734,280 4.4%
Customer direct sales (2) 14,371,268 13,753,719 617,549 4.5%
Customer indirect sales (3) 39,339,376 35,587,446 3,751,930 10.5%
Total customer sales (direct and indirect) 53,710,644 49,341,165 4,369,479 8.9%
Shareholders' equity 610,294 552,254 58,040 10.5%

(Amounts in € thousand)

(1) Loans receivable with ordinary customers refer solely to loans granted to customers (current account overdrafts, credit cards, personal loans and unsecured loans);

(2) Customer direct sales include overdrawn current accounts, Supersave repos and the Cash Park deposit account;

(3) Customer indirect sales consist of products placed online or through the sales networks of FinecoBank.

KEY FIGURES

Operating Structure

Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 03.31.2014
No. Employees 1,030 1,008 967
No. Human Resources 1,037 1,022 976
No. Financial Advisors 2,571 2,533 2,479
No. Operating financial outlets 328 325 315

Number of human resources: includes permanent employees, atypical employees, Directors and Group employees seconded to FinecoBank, net of FinecoBank employees seconded to the Group.

Number of operating financial outlets: financial outlets managed by the Bank and financial outlets managed by financial advisors (Fineco Center).

Profitability, productivity and efficiency ratios

Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 03.31.2014
Net interest/Operating income 42.13% 50.59% 51.58%
Income from brokerage and other income/Operating income 57.87% 49.41% 48.42%
Income from brokerage and other income/Operating costs 132.27% 105.09% 106.11%
Cost/income ratio 43.75% 47.02% 45.63%
Operating costs/TFA 0.46% 0.46% 0.46%
Cost of risk 62 bp 71 bp 46 bp
ROE 43.91% 36.49% 36.92%
Return on assets 1.09% 0.89% 0.81%
EVA 41,526 128,379 32,708
RARORAC 57.16% 57.77% 75.14%
ROAC 65.77% 67.46% 84.83%
Total sales to customers/Average employees 52,172 49,391 46,728
Total customer sales /(Employees + Average PFAs) 14,997 14,160 13,279

(Amounts in € thousand)

Key

Income from brokerage and other income: Net fee and commission income, Net trading, hedging and fair value income and Net other expenses/income.

Operating costs/TFA: ratio of operating costs to Total Financial Assets (direct and indirect sales). The TFA used for the ratio is the average for the period, calculated as the average between the period-end balance and the balance as at the previous December 31. Operating costs as at 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2014 were annualised.

Cost of risk: the ratio of net adjustments to loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments to the average of loan receivables from ordinary Customers. Average ordinary loans to customers were calculated as the average between the period-end balance and the balance as at the previous December 31. Net adjustments to loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments as at 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2014 were annualised. Net adjustments to loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments as at 31 March 2015 are net of adjustments made to exposures to customers who made a loss on leveraged Forex positions due to the extraordinary drop in the value of Euro versus the Swiss Franc recorded on January 15, 2015, equal to €0.8 million.

ROE: the denominator used to calculate the index in question is the average shareholders' equity for the period (excluding dividends expected to be distributed and the revaluation reserves).

Return on assets: ratio of net profit to total assets. The net profit as at 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2014 was annualised.

EVA (Economic Value Added): shows the firm's ability to create value; calculated as the difference between net operating profit and the figurative cost of the allocated capital.

RARORAC (Risk adjusted Return on Risk adjusted Capital): which is the ratio between EVA and Allocated/Absorbed Capital and expresses, in percentage, the capacity to create value for unit of risk taken.

ROAC (Return on Allocated Capital): is the ratio of Net Operating Profit and Allocated Capital. The Allocated Capital is intended as the greater of internally calculated capital based on shared UniCredit Group models (Economic Capital) and regulatory capital.

For the calculation of EVA, RARORAC and ROAC indicators as at 31 March 2015, internal capital is that as at December 31, the latest available provided by the Parent Company.

Balance Sheet indicators

Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Loans receivable with ordinary customers/Total assets 2.69% 2.86%
Loans and receivables with banks/Total assets 80.41% 82.87%
Financial assets/Total assets 12.97% 10.13%
Direct sales/Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 82.13% 82.04%
Debt securities in issue/Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 2.45% 2.53%
Shareholders' equity (including profit)/Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 3.49% 3.29%
Loans and receivables with ordinary customers/Customer direct sales 3.27% 3.48%
Credit quality 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Impaired loans/Loans receivable with ordinary customers 0.92% 0.89%
Non-performing loans/Loans receivable with ordinary customers 0.70% 0.66%
Coverage (1) - Non-performing loans 84.04% 84.08%
Coverage (1) - Doubtful loans 67.22% 67.20%
Coverage (1) - Past-due impaired loans 43.21% 49.14%
Coverage (1) - Total impaired loans 81.03% 81.07%

(1) Calculated as the ratio between the amount of impairment losses and gross exposure.

Own funds and capital ratios

Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Total own founds 355,984 353,133
Total risk-weighted assets (€ thousand) 1,836,439 1,850,331
Ratio - Common Equity Tier 1 Capital 19.38% 19.08%
Ratio - Tier 1 Capital 19.38% 19.08%
Ratio - Total Own Funds 19.38% 19.08%

Own funds and capital ratios were determined applying the current Supervisory Regulations, in line with Basel III standards.

FINECO SHARES

Share information

The Fineco share recorded a solid performance in the first quarter of 2015, also underpinned by positive market sentiment in Italy. At the end of 2014 the share price was €4,668, reaching €6,425 at the end of the 2015 quarter, the best result ever recorded in the reference period. Overall, the share price grew by 37.6% since the end of 2014.

The performance is even more impressive if you consider the development of the share price compared to the listing price: since 2 July 2014, the date on which FinecoBank's ordinary shares started to be traded on the Italian Stock Exchange (MTA), the share has experienced a decidedly positive trend, posting a 73.6% price increase.

The outcome of the global offering had set the listing price at €3.7 per share, equivalent to a market capitalization of the bank of €2,243 million. As at March 31, 2015 the bank's market capitalisation amounted to €3,897 million.

1Q2015 Year 2014
Official price of ordinary shares (€)
- maximum 6.425 4.750
- minimum 4.438 3.808
- average 5.356 4.168
- period-end 6.425 4.668
Number of shares (millions)
- in circulation at period end 606.5 606.3

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND MAIN INITIATIVES IN THE PERIOD

FinecoBank is the direct, multi-channel bank of the UniCredit Group, with 988,000 customers at the end of March 2015, 31,000 of whom acquired since the beginning of the year, up 5% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Since the beginning of 2015, FinecoBank recorded total net deposits of €1,612 million, up 53% compared to the same period in 2014, of which €1,198 million for deposits under management, up 92% versus the previous year. Total net deposits from the PFA network, too, recorded a 53% increase, and came in at €1,447 million.

Total direct and indirect sales, amounting to €53,711 million at the end of March 2015, increased by 8.9% compared to the end of December 2014.

The first three months of 2015 ended with the best sales ever recorded, a fact that confirms both FinecoBank's ability to grow organically and savers' increasing appetite for the careful and sophisticated management of their savings. This is a trend that FinecoBank is capitalising on, and intends to continue to do so also in future months, particularly by providing the qualified advisory services that families require.

The Bank's offering is split into the following three areas: (i) banking: including current account and deposit services, payment services, and issuing debit, credit and prepaid cards; (ii) brokerage: providing order execution services on behalf of customers, with direct access to major global equity markets and the ability to trade in CFDs (on currencies, indices, shares, bonds and commodities), futures, options, bonds, ETFs and certificates; and (iii) investing: including placement and distribution services of more than 5,000 products, including mutual funds and SICAV sub-funds managed by 65 leading Italian and international investment firms, insurance and pension products, as well as consulting services in the investment field.

Main events during the period

On February 9, 2015, the Board of Directors launched the plans approved by the Shareholders' Meeting on June 5, 2014.

In particular:

  • it launched the "2014 Key People Plan" for employees of the Bank, following the verification of the achievement of the performance targets set in the Plan. To that effect, the Board of Directors confirmed its approval for a free increase in FinecoBank share capital of €79,761.00 corresponding to 241,700 ordinary shares. The dilution effect resulting from the above free capital increase to service the stock granting plans is calculated as a maximum of 0.04% of the fully diluted capital;
  • it launched the 2014 stock granting plan ("2014 PFA Plan") for PFAs and Bank Network Managers, resolving to start the treasury shares purchase programme. Purchases only began after receipt of the authorisation from the Supervisory Authority, in accordance with articles 77-78 of EU Regulation 575/2013 of 26 June 2013 (CRR);
  • considering the positive outcome of the verification of the entry conditions and the favourable opinion of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee, it approved:
  • o the allocation of 494,493 FinecoBank free ordinary shares to the "2014-2017 Multi-Year Plan Top Management" – a reduction on the number decided on April 15, 2014 in order to ensure compliance with the ratio between the fixed and variable components of remuneration in line with current regulations;
  • o the allocation of 269,728 FinecoBank free ordinary shares for the "Group Executive Incentive System 2014".

Performance of direct and indirect sales

Total customer sales (direct and indirect) for the first quarter of 2015 continued to grow, reaching €53,711 million as at 31 March 2015, an increase of 8.9% compared to the end of 2014, thanks to net sales of €1,612 million and a positive effect driven by market performance.

Customer indirect sales (Assets under Management-AUMs plus Assets under Custody-AUCs) showed an increase of 10.5%, totalling €39,339 million, a figure that confirms the constant growth trend and the continuous improvement in the quality of inflows. In this respect, the growth in "guided products & services"1 should be pointed out, which continued to increase as a percentage of TFA, rising from 17.3% as at December 31, 2014 to 19.1% as at March 31, 2015. There was also noteworthy growth in Managed Assets, from 36.10% at December 31, 2014 to 39.24% at March 31, 2015.

Direct sales also showed a growth of 4.5%, driven by the increasing number of new customers, thus confirming their appreciation for the quality of the services. Direct sales mainly consist of 'transactional' deposits that support all customers' transactions, confirming the high and increasing degree of customer loyalty, which in turn contributes to improving the quality and stability of direct sales.

1Respectively FinecoBank products and/or services developed by investing in UCITs selected from among those distributed for each asset class taking into account customers' different risk profiles and offered to FinecoBank customers under the guided open architecture model. At the date of this interim report, the guided products category includes the "Core Series" umbrella fund of funds and the "Core Unit" and "Advice Unit" unit-linked policies, while the "Fineco Advice" and "Fineco Stars" advanced advisory service (investment) falls into the guided service category.

AUC = Assets under custody

AUM = Assets under management

TFA = Total Financial Assets (direct and indirect sales)

The table below shows the figures for the balance of direct sales, assets under management and assets under

administration

of Fineco customers, including both those linked to a financial advisor and online customers.

Direct and indirect sales balance

Amounts as at Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 Comp % 12.31.2014 Comp % absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 13,194,509 24.6% 12,247,082 24.8% 947,427 7.7%
Time deposits and reverse repos 1,176,759 2.2% 1,506,637 3.1% (329,878) -21.9%
DIRECT SALES BALANCE 14,371,268 26.8% 13,753,719 27.9% 617,549 4.5%
Segregated accounts 14,717 0.0% 14,782 0.0% (65) -0.4%
Investment funds and other funds 23,312,634 43.4% 21,176,945 42.9% 2,135,689 10.1%
Insurance products 2,793,352 5.2% 2,444,167 5.0% 349,185 14.3%
BALANCE ASSETS UNDER
MANAGEMENT 26,120,703 48.6% 23,635,894 47.9% 2,484,809 10.5%
Government securities, bonds and stocks
BALANCE ASSETS UNDER
13,218,673 24.6% 11,951,552 24.2% 1,267,121 10.6%
ADMINISTRATION 13,218,673 24.6% 11,951,552 24.2% 1,267,121 10.6%
BALANCE DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SALES 53,710,644 100.0% 49,341,165 100.0% 4,369,479 8.9%
of which Guided products & services
(Amounts in € thousand)
10,250,128 19.1% 8,532,245 17.3% 1,717,883 20.1%

The table below shows the figures for the balance of direct sales, assets under management and assets under administration of only the Personal Financial Advisors network.

Amounts as at Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 Comp % 12.31.2014 Comp % absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 9,349,472 20.7% 8,605,117 20.7% 744,355 8.7%
Time deposits and reverse repos 828,147 1.8% 1,064,704 2.6% (236,557) -22.2%
BALANCE DIRECT SALES 10,177,619 22.5% 9,669,821 23.3% 507,798 5.3%
Segregated accounts 14,717 0.0% 14,782 0.0% (65) -0.4%
Investment funds and other funds 22,833,511 50.5% 20,772,136 50.1% 2,061,375 9.9%
Insurance products 2,688,625 5.9% 2,346,758 5.7% 341,867 14.6%
BALANCE ASSETS UNDER
MANAGEMENT 25,536,853 56.4% 23,133,676 55.8% 2,403,177 10.4%
Government securities, bonds and stocks
BALANCE ASSETS UNDER
9,531,367 21.1% 8,669,714 20.9% 861,653 9.9%
ADMINISTRATION 9,531,367 21.1% 8,669,714 20.9% 861,653 9.9%
BALANCE DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SALES 45,245,839 100.0% 41,473,211 100.0% 3,772,628 9.1%

Direct and indirect sales balance – Personal Financial Advisers Network – Assoreti figures

(Amounts in € thousand)

The table below shows the figures for the balance of net direct sales, assets under management and assets under administration for Q1 2015 and Q1 2014 of Fineco customers, including both those linked to a financial advisor and online-only customers.

Net sales

Changes
1Q2015 Comp % 1Q2014 Comp % absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 947,427 58.8% 633,064 60.1% 314,363 49.7%
Time deposits and reverse repos (337,675) -20.9% 86,680 8.2% (424,355) n.c.
DIRECT SALES 609,752 37.8% 719,744 68.4% (109,992) -15.3%
Segregated accounts (353) 0.0% (27,143) -2.6% 26,790 -98.7%
Investment funds and other funds 995,227 61.7% 618,398 58.7% 376,829 60.9%
Insurance products 202,874 12.6% 33,802 3.2% 169,072 500.2%
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT 1,197,748 74.3% 625,057 59.4% 572,691 91.6%
Government securities, bonds and stocks (195,432) -12.1% (291,825) -27.7% 96,393 -33.0%
ASSETS UNDER ADMINISTRATION (195,432) -12.1% (291,825) -27.7% 96,393 -33.0%
TOTAL NET SALES - PERSONAL
FINANCIAL ADVISORS NETWORK 1,612,068 100.0% 1,052,976 100.0% 559,092 53.1%

The table below shows the figures for the balance of net direct sales, assets under management and assets under administration for Q1 2015 and Q1 2014 for the PFA network.

Total net sales - Personal Financial Advisors Network

Changes
1Q2015 Comp % 1Q2014 Comp % absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 744,355 51.4% 513,721 54.2% 230,634 44.9%
Time deposits and reverse repos (250,433) -17.3% 55,390 5.8% (305,823) n.c.
DIRECT SALES 493,922 34.1% 569,111 60.1% (75,189) -13.2%
Segregated accounts (353) 0.0% (27,143) -2.9% 26,790 -98.7%
Investment funds and other funds 946,567 65.4% 602,743 63.6% 343,824 57.0%
Insurance products 203,509 14.1% 43,354 4.6% 160,155 369.4%
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT 1,149,723 79.5% 618,954 65.3% 530,769 85.8%
Government securities, bonds and stocks (196,680) -13.6% (240,823) -25.4% 44,143 -18.3%
ASSETS UNDER ADMINISTRATION (196,680) -13.6% (240,823) -25.4% 44,143 -18.3%
TOTAL NET SALES - PERSONAL
FINANCIAL ADVISORS NETWORK 1,446,965 100.0% 947,242 100.0% 499,723 52.8%

(Amounts in € thousand)

The following table shows the number of orders on financial instruments recorded in Q1 2015 compared to the same

period in the previous year.

1Q2015 1Q2014 Changes
absolute %
Orders - Equity Italia (including internalized orders) 2,459,023 2,072,967 386,056 18.6%
Orders - Equity USA (including internalized orders) 318,325 354,717 (36,392) -10.3%
Orders - Equity other markets (including internalized
orders) 127,766 121,783 5,983 4.9%
Total equity orders 2,905,114 2,549,467 355,647 13.9%
Orders - Bonds 205,013 199,579 5,434 2.7%
Orders - Derivatives 869,823 760,942 108,881 14.3%
Orders - Forex 458,298 315,246 143,052 45.4%
Orders - CFDs 351,888 278,213 73,675 26.5%
Orders - Funds 749,916 525,153 224,763 42.8%
Orders- Repo 7,075 9,286 (2,211) -23.8%
TOTAL ORDERS 5,547,127 4,637,886 909,241 19.6%

The table shows a general increase in orders executed in Q1 2015 compared to the previous year, except for a decline in USA equity market and Repo orders.

The following table shows the volume of trades carried out as direct counterparty in orders placed by customers, resulting from the internalization of orders received on shares, CFDs and Logos products, recorded in Q1 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.

1Q2015 1Q2014 Changes
absolute %
Equity (internationalization) 17,445,852 10,056,085 7,389,767 73.5%
Forex 35,281,708 20,449,024 14,832,684 72.5%
CFD and Logos 11,790,331 3,635,335 8,154,996 224.3%
Total "internalized" volumes 64,517,891 34,140,444 30,377,447 89.0%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Performance of income statement aggregates

Profit before tax amounted to €72.2 million, up 25.2% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Income shows an improvement of net fees and commissions, thanks to fees and commissions generated by assets under management and the trading and order collection activity for financial instruments, and by the Net trading, hedging and fair value income due to the greater profit generated by the internalization activity.

Net fees and commissions and Income from trading ,hedges and fair value largely offset the increase in Payroll costs, due an increase in the number of employees, and that of costs resulting from share-based agreements involving own equity instruments, as well as the increase in Other administrative expenses and recovery of expenses, mainly linked to the cost of the new PFA incentive plans and higher PFA expenses as a result of increased hiring that had already started in previous financial years.

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

During the first quarter of 2015, the "Member Get Member" campaign was extended and the CORE SERIES offer was expanded with two new funds: CORE Global Opportunity and CORE Alternative. CORE Global Opportunity is the bond solution suitable for customers wishing greater diversification, for a dynamic investment that can react flexibly to market changes; CORE Alternative is an investment solution that is uncoupled from market performance, for customers wishing to exploit all return opportunities whilst maintaining careful control over risks.

The commercial activities, products and services released involved all the Bank's departments and units, within their respective areas, and consisted of feasibility studies, subsequent implementation and sale/placement.

MAIN BALANCE SHEET AGGREGATES

Amounts as at
ASSETS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Cash and cash equivalents 10 5 5 100.0%
Financial assets held for trading 5,609 3,054 2,555 83.7%
Loans and receivables with banks 14,070,077 13,892,197 177,880 1.3%
Loans and receivables with customers 796,879 695,594 101,285 14.6%
Financial investments flow 2,264,284 1,695,555 568,729 33.5%
Hedging instruments 24,508 24,274 234 1.0%
Property, plant and equipment 11,161 10,892 269 2.5%
Goodwill 89,602 89,602 - -
Other intangible assets 7,989 8,142 (153) -1.9%
Tax assets 13,414 18,550 (5,136) -27.7%
Other assets 215,368 326,756 (111,388) -34.1%
Total assets 17,498,901 16,764,621 734,280 4.4%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Amounts as at Changes
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Deposits from banks 1,466,357 1,428,568 37,789 2.6%
Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712 688,744 4.9%
Debt securities in issue 427,884 424,710 3,174 0.7%
Financial liabilities held for trading 4,557 3,135 1,422 45.4%
Hedging instruments 46,933 46,220 713 1.5%
Provisions for risks and charges 114,680 118,031 (3,351) -2.8%
Tax liabilities 55,688 33,358 22,330 66.9%
Other liabilities 169,052 243,633 (74,581) -30.6%
Shareholders' Equity 610,294 552,254 58,040 10.5%
- capital and reserves
- revaluation reserves (available-for-sale financial assets -
554,027 400,085 153,942 38.5%
actuarial gains (losses) for defined benefits plans) 8,485 2,262 6,223 275.1%
- net profit (loss) 47,782 149,907 (102,125) -68.1%
Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 17,498,901 16,764,621 734,280 4.4%

Financial assets held for trading

Financial assets held for trading consist of:

  • bonds, shares and UCIT units classified in the HFT category (held for trading), for an amount equal to €1.3 million, which are in the Bank's portfolio as a result of trading activity or the initial placement of UCIT units (for an amount of €1 million) and destined to be traded on the market in the short term;
  • the positive valuation of spot contracts for securities in the HFT portfolio and currencies to be settled in time frames established by market practices ("regular way") for €2.8 million, which correspond to negative valuations booked under item 40 "Financial liabilities held for trading";
  • the positive valuation of CDs and futures on indices and interest rates and of CFDs on Forex for €1.6 million.

CFDs are "Over the counter" derivative contracts that require the payment of a differential generated by the difference between the opening and closing price of the financial instrument. The bank in operational terms covers the imbalance of customer positions, by underwriting futures on the underlyings, or through Forex transactions with institutional counterparties to hedge CFD transactions in open currencies with customers' currency; consequently, the positive valuation booked under "Financial assets held for trading" more or less balanced the negative valuations booked under "Financial liabilities held for trading".

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 1,497,327 1,476,280 21,047 1.4%
Time deposits 2,725,653 2,894,321 (168,668) -5.8%
Other loans:
1 Reverse repos 485 5,794 (5,309) -91.6%
2 Others 28,708 27,472 1,236 4.5%
Debt securities 9,817,904 9,488,330 329,574 3.5%
Total 14,070,077 13,892,197 177,880 1.3%

Loans and receivables with banks

(Amounts in € thousand)

Loans and receivables with banks for current accounts and demand deposits mainly consist of accounts held with UniCredit, with a book value of €1,484.1 million (€1,450.7 million as at December 31, 2014), and to a lesser extent, of current accounts held with other banks not belonging to UniCredit group for transactions in securities.

Time deposits consist of the deposit held with UniCredit for compulsory reserves, with a book value of €140.6 million (€131.9 million as at December 31, 2014), in addition to time deposits held with UniCredit with a book value of €2,585 million (€2,762.4 million as at December 31, 2014), opened to invest the liquidity collected through repos and CashPark transactions with retail customers and through repos with credit institutions, with the same maturities.

In the item Other Loans, the item Other relates to the amount of the initial and variation margins placed with credit institutions from derivative transactions as well as from current receivables associated with the provision of financial services.

The debt securities held in the portfolio and included in the category "Loans and Receivables" mainly consist of debt securities issued by UniCredit for an amount of €9,817.9 million (€9,488.3 million at December 31, 2014).

With reference to the increase of UniCredit shares in the portfolio compared with December 31, 2014, it should be noted that, in the first quarter of 2015, the bank carried out an investment transaction with the structural liquidity available as at end December 2014, for a total amount of approx. €300 million, through the purchase of a UniCredit variable-rate bond.

Loans and receivables with customers

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Current accounts 154,859 130,765 24,094 18.4%
Reverse repos 192,493 118,014 74,479 63.1%
Mortgages 50 58 (8) -13.8%
Credit cards and personal loans 313,514 346,465 (32,951) -9.5%
Other loans 135,962 100,291 35,671 35.6%
Debt securities 1 1 - 0.0%
Total 796,879 695,594 101,285 14.6%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Loans and receivables with customers, amounting to €796.9 million, can essentially be broken down as follows:

  • €469.9 million in loans to ordinary customers;
  • €192.5 million in reverse repos;
  • €59.2 million in collateral deposits, initial and variance margins with clearing houses for derivative transactions;
  • €75.3 million relating to current receivables associated with the provision of financial services.

Reverse repos are represented by "Multiday leverage" transactions, securities lending transactions guaranteed by sums of money readily available to the lender and which are basically the equivalent of repos on securities. Other loans mainly consist of collateral deposits, initial and variation margins with clearing houses for derivative transactions, mostly on behalf of third parties, as well as current receivables associated with the provision of financial services.

Loans and receivables with customers Amounts as at
Changes
(Management reclassification) 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Current accounts 152,282 128,270 24,012 18.7%
Use of credit cards 201,564 243,115 (41,551) -17.1%
Personal loans 110,302 101,697 8,605 8.5%
Other loans 1,424 1,438 (14) -1.0%
Performing loans 465,572 474,520 (8,948) -1.9%
Current accounts 2,577 2,495 82 3.3%
Mortgages 50 58 (8) -13.8%
Use of credit cards 103 104 (1) -1.0%
Personal loans 1,545 1,549 (4) -0.3%
Other loans 25 26 (1) -3.8%
Impaired loans 4,300 4,232 68 1.6%
Loan receivables with ordinary customers 469,872 478,752 (8,880) -1.9%
Reverse repos 192,457 117,987 74,470 63.1%
Reverse repos - impaired 36 27 9 33.3%
Collateral deposits, initial and variance margins 59,218 23,122 36,096 156.1%
Current receivables not related
with the provision of financial services 75,295 75,705 (410) -0.5%
Debt securities 1 1 - 0.0%
Current receivables and other receivables 327,007 216,842 110,165 50.8%
Loans and receivables with customers 796,879 695,594 101,285 14.6%
(Amounts in € thousand)

The portfolio of loan receivables with ordinary customers mainly consists of receivables for personal loans, current accounts and credit card use; overall, loans to ordinary customers decreased by 1.9%, due to a lesser use of credit cards with full payment of the balance at term, partially offset by the greater use of current account credit lines.

Impaired assets

Category Gross amount Impairment provision Net amount Coverage ratio
Amounts as at
Amounts as at
Amounts as at Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Non-performing loans 20,507 19,845 (17,234) (16,686) 3,273 3,159 84.04% 84.08%
Doubtful loans 1,138 1,381 (765) (928) 373 453 67.22% 67.20%
Loans overdue 1,215 1,272 (525) (625) 690 647 43.21% 49.14%
Total 22,860 22,498 (18,524) (18,239) 4,336 4,259 81.03% 81.07%

(Amounts in € thousand)

The amount of impaired loans net of impairment losses was €4.3 million, €3.2 million of which in non-performing loans, €0.4 million in doubtful loans and €0.7 million in past-due loans. Impaired loans mostly relate to current account overdrafts, credit card use and personal loans.

Impaired customer loans represented 0.92% of loans to ordinary customers, showing an increase over the 0.89% as at December 31, 2014, due to the reduction of receivables from the use of credit cards with full payment of the balance at term.

Financial investments flow

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Available-for-sale financial assets 2,264,284 1,695,555 568,729 33.5%
Total 2,264,284 1,695,555 568,729 33.5%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Available-for-sale financial assets consist in debt securities issued by governments, in particular Italian government bonds, for a book value of €1,700.5 million (€1,685.1 million as at December 31, 2014), French government bonds, for a book value of €10.4 million (€10.4 million as at December 31, 2014), Spanish Government bonds, for a book value of €553.4 million (purchased in Q1 2015), and equity investments in companies in which the Bank does not exercise control or have a significant influence, for an amount equal to €5,000, including 20 shares in UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions S.c.p.A. for a total of €172.

A portion of debt securities classified in the Available-for-sale financial assets portfolio are entirely used as collateral for bankers' drafts or guarantees with third parties for a book value of €131.3 million.

Hedging instruments

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Asset hedging derivatives - positive valuations 14,730 11,554 3,176 27.5%
Liability hedging derivatives - positive valuations 8,119 7,693 426 5.5%
Adjustment to the value of assets under
portfolio hedge 1,659 5,027 (3,368) -67.0%
Total assets 24,508 24,274 234 1.0%
of which:
Positive valuations 23,395 19,842 3,553 17.9%
Related accrued assets and liabilities (546) (595) 49 -8.2%
Adjustments to the value of hedged assets 1,659 5,027 (3,368) -67.0%
Total assets 24,508 24,274 234 1.0%
Asset hedging derivatives - negative valuations 37,340 36,993 347 0.9%
Liability hedging derivatives - negative valuations - - - -
Adjustment to the value of liabilities under
portfolio hedge 9,593 9,227 366 4.0%
Total liabilities 46,933 46,220 713 1.5%
of which:
Negative valuations 31,321 30,793 528 1.7%
Related accrued assets and liabilities 6,019 6,200 (181) -2.9%
Adjustments to the value of hedged liabilities 9,593 9,227 366 4.0%
Total liabilities 46,933 46,220 713 1.5%
Summary of hedging derivatives valuations as at March 31,2015 Assets Liabilities Imbalance
Valuation of hedging derivatives for assets and liabilities 23,395 31,321 (7,926)
Adjustments to the value of hedged financial assets/liabilities 1,659 9,593 (7,934)
Valuation reserve gross of relevant taxation - (15,860) 15,860
Total 25,054 25,054 -

(Amounts in € thousand)

Hedged assets consist of receivables for personal loans due from retail customers, bonds issued by UniCredit belonging to the "Loans and Receivables category" and securities issued by the Italian Central Government and classified as "Available-for-sale financial assets".

Hedged liabilities refer to bonds issued by FinecoBank, entirely subscribed by the Parent Company and recognized as debt securities in issue.

Accruals relating to asset and liability hedging derivatives amount respectively to €-0.5 million and €6 million, and are included in the net interest margin.

Positive and negative valuations of hedging derivatives relate solely to derivative contracts that the Bank has entered into to provide a hedge against interest rate risk inherent in the above-mentioned assets and liabilities, whose income statement effect, net of accrued interest included in the net interest margin, is zero.

Property, plant and equipment

As in previous financial years, investments in electronic machines were made to guarantee the ongoing update of the hardware used by all FinecoBank departments, and in particular by the IT department.

Investments in office furniture and fittings and equipment are primarily intended for use in new financial stores.

Property, plant and
equipment
Balance
01.01.2015
Investments
as at
03.31.2015
Other
Changes
Sales
Amortisation,
depreciation and
impairment as at
March 31, 2015
Balance
03.31.2015
Properties 2,621 - - (28) 2,593
Electronic machines 6,136 1,045 - (619) 6,562
Furniture and fixtures 927 9 - (53) 883
Plant and machinery 1,208 26 - (111) 1,123
TOTAL 10,892 1,080 - (811) 11,161

Goodwill

As at 31 March 2015, there were no impairment indicators for the goodwill recorded in the Financial Statements; for any further information on the impairment test performed on an annual basis, see the Financial Statements as at 31 December 2014.

As at March 31, 2015, the goodwill recorded in the financial statements was made up as follows:

Amounts as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Goodwill relating to Fineco On Line Sim S.p.A. 16,087 16,087
Goodwill relating to the Trading and Banking division of Banca della Rete 2,034 2,034
Goodwill relating to PFA division formerly FinecoGroup S.p.A. 3,463 3,463
Goodwill relating to the PFA division formerly UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A. 68,018 68,018
Total 89,602 89,602

(Amounts in € thousand)

Goodwill relating to Fineco On Line Sim S.p.A.

On April 3, 2001 the merger of Fineco On Line Sim S.p.A., the business division of Fineco Sim S.p.A., into FinecoBank was completed.

This merger was carried out on the basis of a share swap ratio of 3.7 shares of the acquiring company for each share of the acquired company, with a consequent increase in the share capital of FinecoBank. The difference between the increase in capital of the acquiring company and the amount of shareholders' equity of the acquired company gave rise to a share swap loss recorded under goodwill.

The balance, amounting to €16 million, is equal to the balance at January 1, 2004, the date of transition to IAS, plus the unamortized amount of the substitute tax, paid for recognition of the loss for tax purposes.

Goodwill relating to the Trading and Banking division of Banca della Rete

On September 1, 2003, FinecoBank acquired the "On-line Banking" and "On-line Trading" business divisions of Banca della Rete, as part of the business plan to rationalize the reorganization of Banca della Rete, in accordance with the directives of the then Parent Company Capitalia S.p.A..

The amount of €2 million recorded in the balance sheet is the same as the amount as at January 1, 2004, the date of transition to IAS.

Goodwill relating to PFA division formerly FinecoGroup S.p.A.

On October 1, 2005, FinecoBank acquired the Personal Financial Advisors business division from FinecoGroup S.p.A., which was created from the progressive merger of three different group networks: FinecoBank S.p.A., former Bipop Carire S.p.A. and Banca Manager S.p.A..

The transaction was carried out for a consideration mutually agreed by the parties and subject to a "fairness opinion', leading to the recognition of €3.5 million of goodwill.

Goodwill relating to the PFA division formerly UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A.

As a result of the merger of UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A. into FinecoBank on 7 July 2008, FinecoBank S.p.A. recorded goodwill of €68 million under intangible assets, arising from previous extraordinary transactions carried out by UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A., more specifically:

  • Year 2000: acquisition of the PFA division, formerly Fida SIM, by UniCreditSIM, later merged into Xelion Sim S.p.A., which then became UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A.. The balance, amounting to €1 million, is equal to the balance at January 1, 2004, the date of transition to IAS;
  • Year 2001: merger of UniCreditSIM into Xelion Sim S.p.A., which then became UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A.. The balance, amounting to €13.8 million, is equal to the balance at January 1, 2004, the date of transition to IAS;
  • Year 2003: spin-off of the personal financial advisors division, formerly Credit, Rolo and CRT by UniCredit Banca to UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A.. The balance, amounting to €19.1 million, is equal to the balance at January 1, 2004, the date of transition to IAS;
  • Year 2004: acquisition of the PFA division from Ing Italia. This transaction resulted in the recognition of goodwill of €34.1 million.

It should be noted that all the goodwill (totalling €90 million) relates to acquisitions of businesses or companies carrying out trading activities or the distribution of financial, banking and insurance products through personal financial advisors.

These activities have been fully integrated with FinecoBank's ordinary operations, as a result it is no longer possible to isolate the contribution of each company/business division from the Bank's overall income; this means that to establish the reasonableness of the value of goodwill recognized in the financial statements it is necessary to take account of the Bank's comprehensive income. The cash generating unit (CGU) is therefore the Bank as a whole.

In fact, in view of the specific business model adopted by FinecoBank, which envisages a high level of integration between personal financial advisors and the trading and banking platform, the allocation of costs/revenues to the business units is not considered relevant or meaningful; the personal financial advisors network is an integral part of the overall offer, along with banking, brokerage and investing services.

Other intangible assets

Other intangible assets mainly include purchases and the implementation of information technology procedures with useful lives of several years, required in order to manage the development and ongoing provision by the Bank of new and more versatile high-added-value services for customers, as well as infrastructure and application optimizations, enhancements to architecture for application security, and the developments needed to meet the new regulatory requirements.

Intangible assets Balance
01.01.2015
Investments
as at
03.31.2015
Other
changes
sales
Amortisation,
depreciation and
impairment as at
March 31, 2015
Balance
03.31.2015
Software 6,969 1,063 - (1,111) 6,921
Other intangible assets 1,173 - - (105) 1,068
TOTAL 8,142 1,063 - (1,216) 7,989

Tax Assets and Other Assets

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Tax assets
Current assets 2,067 2,179 (112) -5.1%
Deferred tax assets 35,733 37,025 (1,292) -3.5%
Deferred tax assets pursuant to Law 214/2011 3,576 3,839 (263) -6.9%
Total before IAS 12 offsetting 41,376 43,043 (1,667) -3.9%
Offsetting with deferred tax liabilities - IAS 12 (27,962) (24,493) (3,469) 14.2%
Total Tax assets 13,414 18,550 (5,136) -27.7%
Other assets
Items in processing 14,749 9,193 5,556 60.4%
Definitive items not recognised under other items 39,192 53,600 (14,408) -26.9%
Current receivables not related
to the provision of financial services 5,093 4,576 517 11.3%
Tax items other than those included
in the item "Tax liabilities" 121,538 235,072 (113,534) -48.3%
Deferred charges 26,254 15,109 11,145 73.8%
Improvement and incremental expenses incurred on leasehold assets
Other items
8,389
153
9,081
125
(692)
28
-7.6%
22.4%
Total other assets 215,368 326,756 (111,388) -34.1%
(Amounts in € thousand)
The decrease in "Tax assets", equal to €5.1 million, was mainly due to:
-
the reduction of "Deferred Tax Assets" by approx. €1.3 million, resulting mainly from the use of the Provision for
risks and charges;
-
the entry of "Deferred tax liabilities" amounting to approx. €3.5 million, following the revaluation of bond securities
held in the Bank's portfolio.
It is also noted that Deferred tax assets are shown in the Balance Sheet net of the relevant Deferred tax liabilities,
where the requirements set out in IAS 12 are met.
With respect to "Other assets", a decrease of "Tax items other than those recorded under the Tax Assets item" was
recorded as a result of the use of advance tax payed as substitute tax for stamp duty, substitute tax on other income
and withholding tax on interest.
Deposits from banks
Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Deposits from central banks - - - -
Deposits from banks
Current accounts and demand deposits 97,764 89,607 8,157 9.1%
Loans
Repos 1,367,570 1,337,843 29,727 2.2%
Other liabilities 1,023 1,118 (95) -8.5%
Total 1,466,357 1,428,568 37,789 2.6%
(Amounts in € thousand)
The item current accounts and demand deposits mainly consists of reciprocal current accounts and loans with
UniCredit group companies, with a book value of €14.2 million (€17.3 million as at December 31, 2014), as well as
reciprocal current accounts and loans with banks outside the Group of €6.2 million. The item also includes margin
  • the reduction of "Deferred Tax Assets" by approx. €1.3 million, resulting mainly from the use of the Provision for risks and charges;
  • the entry of "Deferred tax liabilities" amounting to approx. €3.5 million, following the revaluation of bond securities held in the Bank's portfolio.

Deposits from banks

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Deposits from central banks - - - -
Deposits from banks
Current accounts and demand deposits 97,764 89,607 8,157 9.1%
Loans
Repos 1,367,570 1,337,843 29,727 2.2%
Other liabilities 1,023 1,118 (95) -8.5%
Total 1,466,357 1,428,568 37,789 2.6%

The item current accounts and demand deposits mainly consists of reciprocal current accounts and loans with UniCredit group companies, with a book value of €14.2 million (€17.3 million as at December 31, 2014), as well as variations for trading in repos received by UniCredit, with a book value of €77.4 million (€64.6 million as at 31 December 2014).

Repos included €1,237.6 million in transactions effected with UniCredit (€1,256.6 million as at 31 December 2014) and €39.1 million of transactions effected with UniCredit AG Monaco (€27.1 million as at December 31, 2014).

Deposits from customers

Deposits from customers, mainly consisting of current accounts, the Cash Park deposit account and Supersave repos, totalled €14,603.5 million, an increase of 4.9% compared to December 31, 2014.

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Current accounts and demand deposits 13,194,588 12,247,454 947,134 7.7%
Time deposits 1,028,380 1,315,731 (287,351) -21.8%
Loans
Repos 299,932 281,178 18,754 6.7%
Other liabilities 80,556 70,349 10,207 14.5%
Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712 688,744 4.9%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Debt securities in issue

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Bonds issued 427,884 424,710 3,174 0.7%

(Amounts in € thousand)

The change in bonds issued is due exclusively to the exchange rate variation for dollar bonds.

Financial liabilities held for trading

Financial liabilities held for trading consist of:

  • the negative valuation of spot contracts for securities in the HFT portfolio and currencies to be settled in time frames established by market practices ("regular way") for €2.7 million, which correspond to positive valuations booked under item 20 "Financial assets held for trading";
  • the negative valuation of CFDs and futures on indices and interest rates and CFDs on Forex for €1.9 million.

CFDs are "Over the counter" derivative contracts that require the payment of a differential generated by the difference between the opening and closing price of the financial instrument. The bank in operational terms covers the imbalance of customer positions, by underwriting futures on the underlyings, or through Forex transactions with institutional counterparties to hedge CFD transactions in open currencies with customers' currency; consequently, the negative valuations booked under "Financial liabilities held for trading" more or less balanced the positive valuations booked under "Financial assets held for trading".

Provisions for risks and charges

Provisions for risks and charges include allowances for a total of €114,7 million, for which, given a liability of uncertain amount and expiry, a current obligation was identified as the result of a past event and it was possible to make a reliable estimate of the amount resulting from the fulfilment of said obligation.

The disbursements, with estimated maturity exceeding 18 months, were discounted to present value using a rate equal to the time value of money.

"Staff expenses" include the provisions made for the variable remuneration to be paid to employees in subsequent years, which have an uncertain due date and/or amount.

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
46,655 49,650 (2,995) -6.0%
35,923 36,205 (282) -0.8%
10,732 13,445 (2,713) -20.2%
8,750 7,805 945 12.1%
59,275 60,576 (1,301) -2.1%
45,067 44,114 953 2.2%
2,279 2,269 10 0.4%
7,299 7,298 1 0.0%
4,630 6,895 (2,265) -32.8%
114,680 118,031 (3,351) -2.8%
- Provision for contractual payments and payments under non-competition agreements

(Amounts in € thousand)

Tax liabilities and Other liabilities

Amounts as at Changes
03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Tax liabilities
Current liabilities 55,688 33,358 22,330 66.9%
Deferred tax liabilities 27,962 24,493 3,469 14.2%
Total before IAS 12 offsetting 83,650 57,851 25,799 44.6%
Offsetting with Prepaid tax assets - IAS 12 (27,962) (24,493) (3,469) 14.2%
Total Tax liabilities 55,688 33,358 22,330 66.9%
Other liabilities
Impairment of financial guarantees given 1,416 1,416 - 0.0%
Items in processing 49,945 42,366 7,579 17.9%
Definitive items not recognised under other items 25,656 33,913 (8,257) -24.3%
Payables to employees and other personnel 8,036 6,549 1,487 22.7%
Payables to Directors and statutory auditors 148 212 (64) -30.2%
Current payables not related
to the provision of financial services 24,982 25,075 (93) -0.4%
Tax items other than those included
in the item "Tax liabilities" 37,887 107,717 (69,830) -64.8%
Social security contributions payable 7,702 5,576 2,126 38.1%
Adjustments for illiquid portfolio items 7,340 15,197 (7,857) -51.7%
Other items 882 786 96 12.2%
Employee severance pay provision 5,058 4,826 232 4.8%
Total Other Liabilities 169,052 243,633 (74,581) -30.6%

The increase in "Tax liabilities", equal to €22.3 million, pertains to "Current liabilities" and is due, respectively, to the increase of €4.5 million of IRAP-related liabilities towards the tax authorities and of €17.8 million of IRES-related liabilities towards the Parent Company as a result of tax consolidation.

It is also noted that Deferred tax liabilities are shown in the Balance Sheet as offsetting Deferred tax assets.

With respect to "Other Liabilities", a €69.8 million decrease was recorded for "Tax items other than those included in the item Tax liabilities", as a result of lower payables to the tax authorities due to the payment, net of tax advances captured in Other Assets, of stamp duty, withholding taxes on interest and substitute tax on other income.

Shareholders' equity

As at March 31, 2015, the Bank's share capital came to €200 million, and was divided into 606,515,733 shares with a par value of €0.33 each. Reserves comprise Issue-premium reserve, amounting to €1.9 million, the legal reserve amounting to €33.1 million, the extraordinary reserve amounting to €142.8 million, the reserve for purchase of treasury shares amounting to €14.9 million and the reserve connected to the Equity Settled plans amounting to €11.2 million.

The Bank does not hold Treasury shares in its portfolio.

Shareholders' Equity as at March 31, 2015 included the profit for 2014, equal to €149.9 million, whose allocation has been resolved upon as follows by the Shareholders' Meeting of 23 April 2015:

  • €7 million to the legal reserve;
  • €21.6 million to the extraordinary reserve;
  • €121.3 million, equal to €0.2 per share, to the shareholders.

Equity

Amounts as at Changes
Items/amounts 03.31.2015 12.31.2014 absolute %
Share capital 200,150 200,070 80 0.0%
Share premium reserve 1,934 1,934 - -
Reserves
- Legal res
erve
33,061 33,061 - -
- E
x
t
raordinary
res
erve
142,829 142,739 90 0.1%
- Ot
her res
erves
26,146 22,281 3,865 17.3%
Revaluation reserves 8,485 2,262 6,223 275.1%
Retained Profit (Loss) 149,907 - 149,907 -
Net Profit (Loss) for the year 47,782 149,907 (102,125) -68.1%
Total 610,294 552,254 (91,867) -16.6%

CAPITAL RESOURCES AND PRUDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

Data as at
03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Common Equity Tier 1 - CET1 355,984 353,133
Tier 1 Equity 355,984 353,133
Total Own Founds 355,984 353,133
Total risk-weighted assets 1,836,439 1,850,331
Ratio - Common Equity Tier 1 Capital 19.38% 19.08%
Ratio - Tier 1 Capital 19.38% 19.08%
Ratio - Total Own Funds 19.38% 19.08%

(Amounts in € thousand)

.

Own funds as at March 31, 2015 amounted to a €356 million.

Own funds and Capital ratios were determined applying the current Supervisory Regulations, in line with Basel III standards.

INCOME STATEMENT FIGURES

Condensed Income Statement

1Q Changes
2015 2014 absolute %
Net interest 57,586 58,333 (747) -1.3%
Net fee and commission income 61,681 47,718 13,963 29.3%
Net trading, hedging and fair value income 17,059 7,079 9,980 141.0%
Net other expenses/income 358 (41) 399 n.c.
OPERATING INCOME 136,684 113,089 23,595 20.9%
Payroll costs (18,385) (15,770) (2,615) 16.6%
Other administrative expenses (60,401) (52,735) (7,666) 14.5%
Recovery of expenses 21,012 18,807 2,205 11.7%
Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
on intangible and tangible assets (2,027) (1,905) (122) 6.4%
Operating costs (59,801) (51,603) (8,198) 15.9%
OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 76,883 61,486 15,397 25.0%
Net impairment losses on
loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments (1,583) (465) (1,118) 240.4%
NET OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 75,300 61,021 14,279 23.4%
Provisions for risks and charges (3,115) (3,373) 258 -7.6%
PROFIT (LOSS) BEFORE TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 72,185 57,648 14,537 25.2%
Income tax for the period (24,403) (20,722) (3,681) 17.8%
PROFIT (LOSS) AFTER TAX FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 47,782 36,926 10,856 29.4%
NET PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE PERIOD 47,782 36,926 10,856 29.4%

Net interest

The interest for the first quarter of 2015 amounted to €57.6 million, by and large in line with that for the first quarter of 2014, mainly due to the increase of sales volume and the reduction in the cost of sales that offset the fall in market interest rates.

1Q Changes
Interest income 2015 2014 absolute %
Financial Assets held for trading - 1 (1) -100.0%
Available-for-sale financial assets 4,869 426 4,443 1043.0%
Loans and receivables with banks 49,127 67,241 (18,114) -26.9%
Loans and receivables with customers 7,395 7,031 364 5.2%
Financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss - 3 (3) -100.0%
Hedging derivatives 1,937 138 1,799 1303.6%
Total interest income 63,328 74,840 (11,512) -15.4%
(Amounts in € thousand)
1Q Changes
Interest expense 2015 2014 absolute %
Deposits from banks (194) (1,671) 1,477 -88.4%
Deposits from customers (5,548) (14,836) 9,288 -62.6%
Total interest expense (5,742) (16,507) 10,765 -65.2%
Net interest 57,586 58,333 (747) -1.3%

(Amounts in € thousand)

The following table provides a breakdown of interest income associated with banks and customers:

1Q Changes
Breakdown of interest income 2015 2014 absolute %
Interest income on loans and receivables with banks 49,127 67,241 (18,114) -26.9%
- current accounts 573 53,647 (53,074) -98.9%
- reverse repos 190 158 32 20.3%
- time deposit for compulsory reserves 17 77 (60) -77.9%
- time deposits 3,585 11,822 (8,237) -69.7%
- other loans 10 2 8 400.0%
- debt securities 44,752 1,535 43,217 2815.4%
Interest income on loans and receivables with customers 7,395 7,031 364 5.2%
- current accounts 1,341 1,092 249 22.8%
- reverse repos 2,946 2,822 124 4.4%
- credit cards 903 884 19 2.1%
- personal loans 2,175 2,192 (17) -0.8%
- other loans 30 41 (11) -26.8%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Interest income on loans and receivables with banks amounted to €49.1 million, decreasing by €18.1 million compared to the same period of the previous year. The decrease in current account interest, equal to €53.1 million, and savings accounts, equal to €8.2 million, was mainly due to a fall in volumes and market interest rates; such fall was partly offset by the increase in the interest rate for debt securities, amounting to €43.2 million, as a result of the volume increase due to the investments effected starting from Q2 2014. It should be noted that, starting from April 1, 2014 the liquidity investment policy experienced some changes: specifically, "core" liquidity was invested in UniCredit shares, whilst the portion of liquidity classified as "non core" was invested in liquid assets or assets readily convertible into cash, such as Government Bonds.

Interest income on loans and receivables with customers amounted to €7.4 million, showing an increase of 5.2% thanks to higher interest on "Multiday leverage" securities lending transactions guaranteed by cash and on use of current account credit lines, due to the increase in volumes.

1Q Changes
Breakdown of interest expense 2015 2014 absolute %
Interest expense on deposits from banks (194) (1,671) 1,477 -88.4%
- current accounts (16) (30) 14 -46.7%
- demand deposits (2) - (2) n.c.
- other loans (5) (7) 2 -28.6%
- reverse repos (171) (1,634) 1,463 -89.5%
Interest expense on deposits from customers (5,548) (14,836) 9,288 -62.6%
- current accounts (892) (4,014) 3,122 -77.8%
- demand deposits (12) (14) 2 -14.3%
- time deposits (4,051) (9,906) 5,855 -59.1%
- reverse repos (593) (902) 309 -34.3%

The following table provides a breakdown of interest expense related to banks and customers:

(Amounts in € thousand)

Interest expense on deposits from banks amounted to €0.2 million, down by €1.5 million compared to the same period of the previous year, attributable to lower interest accrued on repos due to the reduction in volumes and changes in market rates.

Interest expense on deposits from customers came in at €5.5 million, down €9.3 million over the same period for the previous year as a result of the reduction of the current account interest rate, coupled with the reduction of volumes and the interest rate for "Cash Park" time deposits. The cost of deposits went from 0.46% in Q1 2014 to 0.14% in Q1 2015.

The structure of the investments carried out by the Bank contributed to keep a high flow of interest income resulting from the investment of deposits, even against a backdrop of significant reduction of credit spreads and market interest rates. The average lending rate for the investment of all deposits (both at sight and at term) went from 2.01% in Q1 2014 to 1.56% in Q1 2015.

Income from brokerage and other income

1Q Changes
2015 2014 absolute %
Net interest 57,586 58,333 (747) -1.3%
Net fee and commission income 61,681 47,718 13,963 29.3%
Net trading, hedging and fair value income 17,059 7,079 9,980 141.0%
Net other expenses/income 358 (41) 399 n.c.
Operating income 136,684 113,089 23,595 20.9%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Net fees and commission income

1Q Changes
Management reclassification 2015 2014 absolute %
Management, brokerage and consulting services:
1. trading and order collection activity for financial instruments 25,423 22,731 2,692 11.8%
2. currency trading (61) (42) (19) 45.2%
3. custody and administration of securities (1,127) (923) (204) 22.1%
4. placement and management of securities,
UCIT units and segregated accounts 37,493 28,144 9,349 33.2%
6. investment advisory services (206) 25 (231) -924.0%
7. distribution of insurance products 4,818 3,267 1,551 47.5%
8. distribution of other products (69) (65) (4) 6.2%
Collection and payment services 2,503 2,453 50 2.0%
Holding and management of current accounts/deposit accounts (1,091) (1,730) 639 -36.9%
Other commissions payable to PFAs (6,567) (6,520) (47) 0.7%
Securities lending (544) (561) 17 -3.0%
Other services 1,109 939 170 18.1%
Total 61,681 47,718 13,963 29.3%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Net fee and commission income amounted to €61.7 million, increasing by 29.3% compared to the same period of the previous year.

This increase was mainly attributable to the increase in net fee and commission income from trading and asset management, units in investment funds and segregated accounts, thanks to the increase in assets under management, as well as from securities trading and order collection commissions, underpinned by market volatility and Customers' appreciation of Fineco's platform.

Net trading, hedging and fair value income was mainly determined by the profits posted by the activity of internalization of securities and CFD contracts. The increase of €10 million is attributable to higher profits deriving from trading in securities, for €1.3 million, in CFDs, for €4.5 million and exchange differences on assets and liabilities denominated in currency, for €4 million.

The Net other expenses/income shows an increase that is mainly due on higher insurance reimbursements recorded by the Bank over the same period of the previous year.

Operating costs

1Q Changes
Breakdown of operating costs 2015 2014 absolute %
Payroll costs (18,385) (15,770) (2,615) 16.6%
Other administrative expenses (60,401) (52,735) (7,666) 14.5%
Recovery of expenses 21,012 18,807 2,205 11.7%
Amortisation, depreciation and impairment losses
on intangible and tangible assets (2,027) (1,905) (122) 6.4%
Total operating costs (59,801) (51,603) (8,198) 15.9%
(Amounts in € thousand)
1Q Changes
Payroll costs 2015 2014 absolute %
1) Employees (18,108) (15,332) (2,776) 18.1%
- wages and salaries (11,791) (10,662) (1,129) 10.6%
- social security contributions (3,273) (2,886) (387) 13.4%
- severance pay (249) (198) (51) 25.8%
- allocation to employee severance pay provision (23) (33) 10 -30.3%
- payment to supplementary external
pension funds:
a) defined contribution (742) (615) (127) 20.7%
- costs related to
share-based payments (1,122) (190) (932) 490.5%
- other employee benefits (908) (748) (160) 21.4%
2) Other staff (37) (24) (13) 54.2%
3) Directors and statutory auditors (251) (211) (40) 19.0%
4) Early retirement costs - - - n.c.
5) Recovery of expenses for employees
seconded to other companies 52 25 27 108.0%
6) Recovery of expenses for employees
seconded to the Company (41) (228) 187 -82.0%
Total (18,385) (15,770) (2,615) 16.6%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Payroll costs in the first quarter of 2015 show an increase of 16.6%, due to an increase in staff numbers, which rose from 976 as at March 31, 2014 to 1,037 as at March 31, 2015, as well as to the increase of costs resulting from sharebased agreements involving own equity instruments due to new incentive plans with execution conditional upon listing.

Note that item "costs related to share-based payments" includes the costs incurred by FinecoBank for share-based payments involving financial instruments issued by FinecoBank and financial instruments issued by UniCredit S.p.A..

Other administrative expenses and recovery of expenses came in at €39.4 million, up €5.5 million compared to the same period in the previous year, and include costs of €3 million resulting from PFA incentive plans.

1Q Changes
Other administrative expenses sand recovery of expenses 2015 2014 absolute %
1) INDIRECT TAXES AND DUTIES (22,223) (19,247) (2,976) 15.5%
2) MISCELLANEOUS COSTS AND EXPENSES
A) Advertising expenses - Marketing and communication (5,525) (5,022) (503) 10.0%
Mass media communications (4,445) (4,167) (278) 6.7%
Marketing and promotions (1,080) (854) (226) 26.5%
Conventions and internal communications - (1) 1 -100.0%
B) Expenses related to credit risk (317) (294) (23) 7.8%
Loan recovery expenses (200) (186) (14) 7.5%
Commercial information and company searches (117) (108) (9) 8.3%
C) Expenses related to personnel (8,336) (4,333) (4,003) 92.4%
Personnel training (47) (170) 123 -72.4%
Car rental and other payroll costs (10) (10) - 0.0%
PFA expenses (8,134) (4,014) (4,120) 102.6%
Travel expenses (127) (123) (4) 3.3%
Premises rentals for personnel (18) (16) (2) 12.5%
D) ICT expenses (7,418) (7,411) (7) 0.1%
Lease of ICT equipment and software (910) (1,082) 172 -15.9%
Software expenses: lease and maintenance (1,600) (1,766) 166 -9.4%
ICT communication systems (973) (978) 5 -0.5%
ICT service: external personnel (1,711) (1,691) (20) 1.2%
Financial information providers (2,224) (1,894) (330) 17.4%
E) Consultancies and professional services (832) (1,347) 515 -38.2%
Consultancy on ordinary activities (157) (170) 13 -7.6%
Consultancy for strategy, business development and
organizational optimization (150) (116) (34) 29.3%
Legal expenses - (438) 438 -100.0%
Legal disputes (525) (623) 98 -15.7%
F) Real estate expenses (5,092) (5,269) 177 -3.4%
Real estate service area (173) (171) (2) 1.2%
Repair and maintenance of furniture, machinery, and equipment (69) (46) (23) 50.0%
Maintenance of premises (277) (251) (26) 10.4%
Premises rentals (3,930) (4,277) 347 -8.1%
Cleaning of premises (135) (118) (17) 14.4%
Utilities (508) (406) (102) 25.1%
G) Other functioning costs (9,860) (9,039) (821) 9.1%
Security and surveillance services (84) (88) 4 -4.5%
Postage and transport of documents (600) (627) 27 -4.3%
Administrative and logistical services (3,916) (3,625) (291) 8.0%
Insurance (911) (900) (11) 1.2%
Printing and stationery (143) (174) 31 -17.8%
Association dues and fees (4,175) (3,487) (688) 19.7%
Other administrative expenses (31) (138) 107 -77.5%
Adjustments of leasehold improvements (798) (773) (25) 3.2%
I) Recovery of costs 21,012 18,807 2,205 11.7%
Recovery of ancillary expenses 88 93 (5) -5.4%
Recovery of taxes 20,924 18,714 2,210 11.8%
Total (39,389) (33,928) (5,461) 16.1%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Indirect taxes and duties net of Recovery of taxes increased by €0.8 million, mainly attributable to the amount of "Tobin Tax" paid by the Bank.

Advertising expenses – marketing and communication increased by €0.5 million, due to greater investments in advertising in the period ended March 31, 2015 compared to 2014.

Administrative expenses net of Indirect taxes and duties, Recovery of taxes and Advertising expenses - marketing and communication include the €3 million costs for PFA incentive plans and higher expenses for PFAs of €1 million, as a result of the stepping up of the hiring activity already started in previous financial years. The increased number of advisors also resulted in higher costs for trade association dues and fees of €0.7 million, mainly owing to the increase in charges for the ENASARCO association and the FIRR termination compensation fund.

Impairment losses on intangible assets relate mainly to the amortisation of the costs incurred for computer software with a long-term useful life and did not show any significant change with respect to the previous year.

Impairment losses on tangible assets refer to the depreciation applied to electronic machines, plant and machinery, furniture and fittings and did not show any major changes compared to the previous financial year.

Profit (loss) before tax from continuing operations

1Q Changes
2015 2014 absolute %
Operating profit (loss) 76,883 61,486 15,397 25.0%
Net impairment losses on
loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments (1,583) (465) (1,118) 240.4%
Net operating profit (loss) 75,300 61,021 14,279 23.4%
Provisions for risks and charges (3,115) (3,373) 258 -7.6%
Profit (loss) before tax from continuing operations 72,185 57,648 14,537 25.2%

(Amounts in € thousand)

The increase of Net impairment losses on loans and provisions for guarantees and commitments in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014, equal to €1.1 million, is due by €0.8 to adjustments on exposures to some customers who had opened leveraged positions on the Forex market, incurring in a loss greater than the guaranteed margin as a result of the extraordinary fall of the Euro versus the Swiss Franc recorded on January 15, 2015.

Provisions for risks and charges do not show significant variances compared to the same period in the previous financial year.

Profit (loss) before tax from continuing operations amounted to a profit of €72.2 million, increasing by 25.2% on the first quarter of 2014, due to the positive contribution from Net fee and commission income, owing to the increase in commission income deriving from assets under management and securities trading and order collection activity for financial instruments and Income from trading, hedges and fair value, owing to greater profits earned on the negotiation of securities and CFDs and exchange rate differences on foreign currency assets and liabilities.

Net fees and commissions and Income from trading ,hedges and fair value largely offset the increase in Personnel costs, due an increase in the number of employees, and that of costs resulting from share-based agreements involving own equity instruments, as well as the increase in Other administrative expenses sand recovery of expenses, mainly linked to the cost of the new PFA incentive plans and higher PFA expenses as a result of increased hiring that had already started in previous financial years.

Income tax for the period

1Q Changes
Detail of taxes for the financial year 2015 2014 absolute %
Charge for current IRES tax (17,860) (14,882) (2,978) 20.0%
Charge for current IRAP tax (4,481) (4,185) (296) 7.1%
Changes in current taxes from previous years - (500) 500 -100.0%
Total current tax (22,341) (19,567) (2,774) 14.2%
Changes in prepaid taxes (1,617) (711) (906) n.c.
Changes in deferred taxes (334) (333) (1) 0.3%
Total deferred taxes (1,951) (1,044) (907) 86.9%
Redemption income depreciation and amortization (111) (111) - -
Income tax for the period (24,403) (20,722) (3,681) 17.8%

(Amounts in € thousand)

Current income taxes were calculated according to the legal provisions introduced by Legislative Decree no. 38 of February 28, 2005, issued following the incorporation of IAS/IFRS into Italian legislation and of Decree no. 48 of April 1, 2009, which established provisions for the implementation and coordination of tax requirements for IAS Adopter parties.

Current taxes were determined applying an IRES income tax rate of 27.5% and an IRAP corporate tax rate of 5.57%.

Law no. 2/2009 introduced the option, through the payment of a substitute tax, to recalculate the tax deductible amounts of goodwill. On the instructions of the Parent Company, in 2008 FinecoBank realigned the goodwill recognized following the merger of UniCredit Xelion Sim into UniCredit Xelion Banca S.p.A..

The redeemed goodwill may be amortized off the books for an amount not exceeding one ninth for 2010 and one tenth from 2011 onwards.

In 2008, the tax benefit expected from the future deductibility of off-the-book amortization, corresponding to €4 million, was recognized in the accounts. A tenth of this amount will be recognized through profit or loss for each year of the tax deduction of tax-related amortization of goodwill.

For the three-year period 2013-2015, FinecoBank, in its capacity as consolidated company, is subject to "national tax consolidation", as established by Legislative Decree no. 344 of December 12, 2003, which is carried out by the Parent Company, UniCredit.

Profit (loss) for the period

The net profit for the period amounted to €47.8 million, an increase of 29.4% over the previous year, thanks to an increase in Net fees and commissions and Income from trading, hedges and fair value, which largely offset the increase of Personnel expenses and Other administrative expenses mainly due to incentive plan-related costs.

RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In order to always ensure compliance with applicable legal and regulatory provisions about corporate disclosure on transactions with related parties, during the Board of Directors' Meeting of May 15, 2014 and with the prior positive opinion of the Audit and Related Parties Committee and the Board of Statutory Auditors, FinecoBank approved the adoption of procedures aimed at regulating transactions with related parties and associated persons ("Procedures for managing transactions with subjects in conflict of interest").

The aforementioned procedures include the provisions to be complied with when managing:

  • Related-Party transactions pursuant to the Consob Regulation adopted by resolution 17221 of March 12, 2010 as amended by resolution 17389 of June 23, 2010;
  • Transactions with Associated Persons pursuant to the regulations on "Risk activities and conflicts of interest with Associated Persons", laid down by Bank of Italy Circular 263/2006, Title V, Chapter 5 ("New regulations for the prudential supervision of banks", as amended);
  • Obligations of Bank Officers pursuant to Article 136 of Legislative Decree 385 of September 1, 1993, "Consolidated Law on Banking".

Given that the Bank belongs to the UniCredit Group, the aforementioned Procedures are also base on the "UniCredit Global Policy for managing transactions with subjects in conflict of interest" and the relevant "Global Operational Instructions" issued by UniCredit S.p.A. to subsidiaries within the framework of its management and co-ordination activity.

Considering the above, during 2015:

    1. with the approval of the Board of Directors of January 22, 2015 and following a favourable opinion of the Audit and Related Parties Committee, two significant ordinary transactions were carried out with the related party at market conditions, and, specifically:
  • (i) "Framework resolution Investment of medium-long term liquidity with the Parent Company" with validity up to December 31, 2015, which entails the purchase of UniCredit bonds. Since this transaction was classified for UniCredit as a transaction of "Lesser relevance with a significant amount" under the Global Policy, a favourable, non-binding opinion on the matter was also issued by the Related Parties and Equity Investments Committee of the Parent Company and the Board of Directors of UniCredit on February 11, 2015;
  • (ii) medium-long term investment of structural liquidity collected in the period 1/10/2014 31/12/2014, perfected with the acquisition of UniCredit bonds issued at market conditions; it was approved by the Parent Company's Related Parties and Equity Investments Committee with the issue of a favourable, non-binding opinion on the matter.
    1. with approval of the Board of Directors of March 10, 2015 a significant ordinary transaction at market conditions with UniCredit Bank A.G., consisting in the purchase of "BONOS" Spanish government bonds for a countervalue of €30 million. The transaction was brought to the attention of the Audit and Related Parties Committee of FinecoBank during the meeting held on March 9, 2015. On April 1, 2015, UniCredit's Related Parties and Equity Investments Committee expressed its favourable, non-binding opinion.

In the first quarter of 2015, moreover, no transactions that could significantly affect the Bank's asset situation and results way were initiated.

You are reminded that for the three-year period 2013-2015, FinecoBank opted for the "national tax consolidation" – introduced by Italian Legislative Decree no. 344 of December 12, 2003 – with the Consolidating Company UniCredit. In accordance with the National Tax Consolidation agreement, participation in the consolidation cannot result in tax advantages for the participating Consolidated Company with respect to the situation that would have arisen if the company had not participated. The consolidation results in the following tax advantages: (i) consolidation adjustment relating to deductible interest expense, considering that the amount of interest expense accrued by entities participating in the national consolidation is fully deductible on the basis of the relationship between the total interest expense (intercompany and outside the group) recognised in the financial statements by the individual subsidiary and the overall interest expense recognised in the financial statements by all the subsidiaries pursuant to Article 96.5 bis of the Income Tax Code, (ii) tax credits, and withholdings as advances and detractions, are recognised by the Controlling Company and the Controlled Company as a reduction in the IRES income tax amount due when then the latter has a tax loss, and (iii) any tax losses are paid by the Control Company at the IRES income tax rate applicable for the tax period in which the tax losses are realised.

Lastly, with regard to transactions of significant financial and economic relevance, during 2012, FinecoBank S.p.A. issued 5 bank guarantees in favour of the Italian Revenue Agency upon request by UniCredit, with indefinite duration (specifically of a duration until payment of the underlying sums), for a total amount of €256,065 thousand, plus interest accrued and accruing until request for payment from the Italian Revenue Agency. The bank guarantees were issued to secure the obligations assumed by UniCredit in relation to five VAT refund suspension orders issued by the Italian Revenue Agency and entail the assumption by FinecoBank S.p.A. of an irrevocable payment commitment on demand, within 30 days and without any exceptions. In 2013, following the settlement of an assessment notice issued by the Regional Department of Liguria, for €4,505 thousand, replaced by another assessment notice issued by the same Department up to the amount settled, a guarantee already issued by FinecoBank S.p.A. was replaced, with amounts unchanged; this transaction did not change the commitments undertaken according to the forms, procedures and risks already assessed during 2012, which did not change in 2014.

Transactions with Group companies

The Bank is subject to management and coordination of UniCredit S.p.A..

The following table provides a summary of outstanding assets, liabilities, guarantees and commitments as at March 31, 2015 in relation to Group companies.

Assets Liabilities Guarantees and
commitments
Transactions with Parent Company UniCredit S.p.A. 14,055,007 1,730,931 256,070
Transactions with companies controlled by UniCredit S.p.A. 43,617 67,150 -

(Amounts in € thousand)

For the three-year period 2013-2015, FinecoBank, in its capacity as consolidated company, was subject to "national tax consolidation", as established by Legislative Decree no. 344 of 12 December 2003, which was carried out by the Parent Company, UniCredit S.p.A..

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS AND OUTLOOK

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

No significant events were recorded after period end.

NUMBER OF TREASURY SHARES OF THE PARENT COMPANY

FinecoBank does not hold treasury shares or shares of the Parent Company, even through other companies or third parties.

OUTLOOK

FinecoBank intends to pursue a strategy aimed at consolidating and further strengthening its competitive positioning on the Italian market of integrated banking, brokerage and investing services, by expanding its PFA network, widening - through innovation - its product and service offering and enhancing advisory activity, in order to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of a wider customer base. All these activities will be supported by advertising investments aimed at consolidating customers' perception of the fundamental characteristics of FinecoBank's proposal: simplicity, transparency and innovation.

The above steps reflect a strategy that combines the main trends characterizing the competitive environment in which we operate: the growing demand for financial advisory services and the increasing digitization of society – structural trends that favour the growth of the Fineco's business.

The Board of Directors

Milan, May 11, 2015

FinecoBank S.p.A. FinecoBank S.p.A. Managing Director and General Manager Chairman Alessandro Foti Enrico Cotta Ramusino

Balance Sheet and Income Statement

BALANCE SHEET

Amounts as at
ASSET ITEMS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
10. Cash and cash equivalents 9,689 5,166
20. Financial Assets held for trading 5,609,424 3,053,707
40. Available-for-sale financial assets 2,264,284,046 1,695,554,562
60. Loans and receivables with banks 14,070,076,815 13,892,196,843
70. Loans and receivables with customers 796,878,893 695,594,232
80. Hedging derivatives 22,848,912 19,246,853
90. Adjustments to the value of
hedged financial assets (+/-) 1,658,915 5,026,907
110. Property, plant and equipment 11,161,161 10,892,420
120. Intangible assets 97,591,357 97,743,596
of which
-
goodwill
89,601,768 89,601,768
130. Tax assets 13,413,848 18,550,495
a) current 2,067,143 2,178,546
b) deferred 11,346,705 16,371,949
Pursuant to Law 214/2011 3,575,620 3,838,902
150. Other assets 215,368,393 326,756,231
Total assets 17,498,901,453 16,764,621,012
Amounts as at
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY ITEMS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
10. Deposits from banks 1,466,356,524 1,428,568,269
20. Deposits from customers 14,603,456,089 13,914,711,969
30. Debt securities in issue 427,883,632 424,709,661
40. Financial liabilities held for trading 4,557,258 3,134,683
60. Hedging derivatives 37,340,084 36,992,811
70. Adjustments to the value of
hedged financial liabilities (+/-) 9,592,500 9,227,504
80. Tax liabilities 55,687,686 33,358,091
a) current 55,687,686 33,358,091
100. Other liabilities 163,995,510 238,807,723
110. Provision for employee severance pay 5,058,109 4,825,798
120. Provisions for risks and charges: 114,679,695 118,030,959
b) other provisions 114,679,695 118,030,959
130. Revaluation reserves 8,484,950 2,261,820
160. Reserves 351,943,440 198,080,512
170. Share premium reserve 1,934,113 1,934,113
180. Share capital 200,150,192 200,070,431
200. Net Profit (Loss) for the year 47,781,671 149,906,668
Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 17,498,901,453 16,764,621,012

INCOME STATEMENT

1Q
INCOME STATEMENT 2015 2014
10. Interest income and similar revenues 63,328,366 74,840,186
20. Interest expenses and similar charges (5,741,877) (16,507,402)
30. Net interest income 57,586,489 58,332,784
40. Fee and commission revenues 123,037,532 98,375,182
50. Fee and commission expense (61,356,946) (50,656,960)
60. Net fee and commission income 61,680,586 47,718,222
70. Dividend income and similar revenue 4 81
80. Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities held for trading 17,059,033 7,067,318
90. Fair value adjustments in hedge accounting - -
100. Gains (losses) on disposal or repurchase of - 9,668
a) loans and receivables - 9,668
110. Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities designated
at fair value through profit or loss - 11,424
120. Operating income 136,326,112 113,139,497
130. Impairment losses/writebacks on: (1,582,707) (464,638)
a) loans and receivables (1,582,707) (464,638)
140. Net profit from financial activities 134,743,405 112,674,859
150. Administrative expenses (77,986,972) (67,732,312)
a) payroll costs (18,384,724) (15,769,952)
b) other administrative expenses (59,602,248) (51,962,360)
160. Net provisions for risks and charges (3,115,388) (3,373,066)
170. Impairment/write-backs on property, plant and equipment (810,877) (749,047)
180. Impairment/write-backs on intangible assets (1,216,124) (1,155,768)
190. Other net operating income 20,570,443 17,983,070
200. Operating costs (62,558,918) (55,027,123)
240. Gains (losses) on disposal of investments - 30
250. Total profit (loss) before tax from continuing operations 72,184,487 57,647,766
260. Tax expense (income) related to profit or loss from continuing operations (24,402,816) (20,722,108)
270. Total profit (loss) after tax from continuing operations 47,781,671 36,925,658
290. Net Profit (Loss) for the period 47,781,671 36,925,658

Annexes

RECONCILIATION OF CONDENSED ACCOUNTS TO MANDATORY REPORTING SCHEDULE

Amounts as at
ASSETS 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Cash and cash equivalents = item 10 10 5
Financial assets held for trading = item 20 5,609 3,054
Payables to banks = item 60 14,070,077 13,892,197
Loans and receivables with customers = item 70 796,879 695,594
Financial investments flow 2,264,284 1,695,555
40. Available-for-sale financial assets 2,264,284 1,695,555
Hedging instruments 24,508 24,274
80. Hedging derivatives 22,849 19,247
90. Changes in fair value of portfolio hedged financial assets 1,659 5,027
Property, plant and equipment = item 110 11,161 10,892
Goodwill = item 120. Intangible assets of which: goodwill 89,602 89,602
Other intangible assets = item 120 net of goodwill 7,989 8,142
Tax assets = item 130 13,414 18,550
Other assets = item 150 215,368 326,756
Total assets 17,498,901 16,764,621
(Amounts in € thousand)
Amounts as at
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 03.31.2015 12.31.2014
Deposits from banks = item 10 1,466,357 1,428,568
Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712
Total liabilities and Shareholders' equity 17,498,901 16,764,621
- net profit = item 200 47,782 149,907
for defined benefit plans (3,067) (3,067)
130. Revaluation reserves for actuarial net gains (losses)
130. Revaluation reserves of which: Available-for-sale financial assets 11,552 5,329
- revaluation reserves 8,485 2,262
180. Share capital 200,150 200,070
170. Share premium reserve 1,934 1,934
160. Reserves 351,943 198,081
- capital and reserves 554,027 400,085
Shareholders' Equity 610,294 552,254
110. Provision for employee severance pay 5,058 4,826
100. Other liabilities 163,994 238,807
Other liabilities 169,052 243,633
Tax liabilities = item 80 55,688 33,358
Provisions for risks and charges = item 120 114,680 118,031
70. Changes in fair value of portfolio hedged financial liabilities 9,593 9,227
60. Hedging derivatives 37,340 36,993
Hedging instruments 46,933 46,220
Financial liabilities held for trading = item 40 4,557 3,135
30. Debt securities in issue 427,884 424,710
Debt securities in issue 427,884 424,710
20. Deposits from customers 14,603,456 13,914,712
1Q
INCOME STATEMENT 2015 2014
Net interest 57,586 58,333
30. Net interest income 57,586 58,333
Net fee and commission income = item 60
60. Net fee and commission income
61,681
61,681
47,718
47,718
Net trading, hedging and fair value income
80. Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities held for trading
90. Fair value adjustments in hedge accounting
110. Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities designated at fair value through profit and loss
17,059
17,059
-
-
7,079
7,067
-
12
Net other expenses/income
190. Other net operating income
les
s
: other operating inc
ome - of whic
h: rec
overy of expens
es
less: adjustments of leasehold improvements
100. Gains (losses) on disposal or repurchase of: a) loans and receivables
358
20,571
(21,012)
799
-
(41)
17,984
(18,807)
773
9
OPERATING INCOME 136,684 113,089
Payroll costs
150. Administrative expenses - a) payroll costs
(18,385)
(18,385)
(15,770)
(15,770)
Other administrative expenses
150. Administrative expenses- b) other administrative expenses
+ adjustments of leasehold improvements
(60,401)
(59,602)
(799)
(52,735)
(51,962)
(773)
Recovery of expenses
190. Other operating expenses/income - of which:recovery of expenses
21,012
21,012
18,807
18,807
Amortization, depreciation and impairment losses on intangible and tangible assets
170. Impairment/write-backs on property, plant and equipment
180. Impairment/write-backs on intangible assets
(2,027)
(811)
(1,216)
(1,905)
(749)
(1,156)
Operating costs (59,801) (51,603)
OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 76,883 61,486
Net impairment losses on loans and provisions for guaranteed and commitments
+ Gains (losses) on disposal or repurchase of: a) impaired loans (from item 100 a))
130. Impairment losses/writebacks on:a) loans and receivables
130. Impairment losses/writebacks on:d) other financial assets
less: net value adjustments for the impairment of other financial assets - contribution to the
Interbank Fund for the Protection of Deposits
(1,583)
-
(1,583)
-
-
(465)
-
(465)
-
-
NET OPERATING PROFIT (LOSS) 75,300 61,021
Provisions for risks and charges
160. Net provisions for risks and charges
+ net value adjustments for the impairment of other financial assets - contribution to the Interbank
Fund for the Protection of Deposits
(3,115)
(3,115)
-
(3,373)
(3,373)
-
Net income from investment
240. Gains (losses) on disposal of investments
-
-
-
-
PROFIT (LOSS) BEFORE TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS
72,185 57,648
Income tax for the period
260. Tax expense (income) related to profit or loss from continuing operations
(24,403)
(24,403)
(20,722)
(20,722)
PROFIT (LOSS) AFTER TAX
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS
47,782 36,926
PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE PERIOD 47,782 36,926

The undersigned Lorena Pelliciari, as Nominated Official in charge of drawing up Company Accounts of FinecoBank S.p.A.,

DECLARES

in compliance with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 154-bis of the "Consolidated Finance Act", that the accounting information contained in this Interim Financial Report as at March 31, 2015 corresponds to results in the Company's accounts, books and records.

Milan, May 11, 2015

The Nominated Official in charge of drawing up Company Accounts Lorena Pelliciari

Talk to a Data Expert

Have a question? We'll get back to you promptly.