A turnaround in interest rates and strong capital markets resulted in record profit last year for Germany's DZ Bank Group.
With almost €3.2 billion ($3.47 billion) before taxes and some €2.23 billion after taxes, the cooperative central institution surpassed its previous best figures from 2021.
The preliminary figures presented on Thursday were significantly better than the board of managing directors had forecast after record profit in the first half of the year.
With a backdrop of geopolitical conflicts and a weak global economy, the capital markets developed favourably overall, joint chief executive Cornelius Riese said in Frankfurt: "This gave us a particular tailwind as a capital accumulator."
At the end of August, Riese had forecast a pre-tax profit of more than €2.5 billion for the year as a whole.
Pre-tax profit has now climbed by almost 42% compared to the previous year, with net profit increasing by 66.6%. Without the recalculation of the figures for 2022 based on new accounting standards, the increase would have been even greater.
For the current year, Riese, who will take over sole management of the institute on July 1, expects a pre-tax profit "at the upper end" of the range of €2 billion to €2.5 billion, an increase of €500 million.
Like other financial groups, the DZ Bank Group also benefited from the rise in interest rates in 2023. At some €4.33 billion, net interest income was almost a third, or 30.4%, above the previous year's level.
The turnaround at insurance firm R+V Versicherung, which is part of the group, also provided a boost as the capital markets recovered.
The bank's other joint chief executive, Uwe Fröhlich, who retires mid-year, said isn't worried about the current crisis-ridden commercial property market: "I don't fear a systemic crisis, to put it bluntly."