Swiss consumer credit specialist Cembra Money Bank posted record profits last year. The credit card business in particular has grown.
Cembra’s net profit rose 6% to 161.5 million Swiss francs in 2021, even as revenue fell 2% to 487.0 million Swiss francs, the bank said on Wednesday when announcing its annual results.
CEO Holger Laubenthal said robust development across all business areas and our excellent claims ratio allowed us to post record earnings in a difficult environment. In addition, Cembra has also gained new partners in the areas of credit cards and Buy Now Pay Later, he added.
Interest income was down 5% due to a weaker receivables base in the personal loan business, while at the same time interest expense was down 3% to 26 million Swiss francs.
Total net loans and advances to customers at the end of 2021 amounted to 6.2 billion Swiss francs, a decrease of 1% compared to the previous year. In personal loans, receivables fell 5% to 2.5 billion Swiss francs, while auto finance fell 1% to 2.8 billion Swiss francs.
The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic in Switzerland and the cautious underwriting policy in new business were cited as factors.
Credit card receivables rose 6% to 1.0 billion Swiss francs, boosted by a 4% year-on-year increase in card issuance to 1.07 million.
The Board of Directors will propose a 3% increase in the dividend per share to 3.85 Swiss francs at its next General Meeting on April 21.
the main shareholders are UBS Fund Management which owns at least 5%, followed by Blackrock, Credit Suisse Funds and Swisscanto which each own at least 3% of Cembra, according to its website.
