Hamburg Commercial Bank with a successful start in fiscal year 2023

  • Strong portfolio quality, conservative risk policy and consistent customer focus is paying off in challenging times
  • CEO Ian Banwell: “HCOB is an outstanding German success story. We have achieved an incredible amount. This is the right time to plan the succession for me as CEO.”

Hambrg, May 9, 2023 - Hamburg Commercial Bank AG (HCOB) has made a successful start to the 2023 financial year despite a challenging market environment. "HCOB is performing extremely well, even in the current challenging times. As of early May, our net income is above our financial plan, and the credit quality of our loan book remains excellent,” said Ian Banwell, CEO of Hamburg Commercial Bank, on Tuesday.

Ian Banwell ©HCOB
Ian Banwell ©HCOB

The bank is benefitting from its risk-conscious business strategy and is extremely well positioned based on its operational strength, good portfolio quality and high risk coverage. “We have costs under control, and our capital and liquidity position are very robust. Our interest rate risk positioning has left us in an enviable position. Above all, our consistent focus on the needs of our customers is paying off. This is all the result of tremendously strong team play at HCOB – the bank is an outstanding success story in the German banking landscape and is today one of the best capitalized banks in Europe,” Ian Banwell added.

The rating agency Moody's upgraded Hamburg Commercial Bank's key ratings by one notch in February 2023. The bank's issuer, senior preferred and deposit ratings were raised from Baa1 to A3 with a stable outlook. Another very important forward-looking development for HCOB is the successful completion of major IT projects to further improve digital, real-time interaction with its customers. As a result, HCOB has become a modern, data-driven and cloud enabled bank with a powerful SaaS (Software as a Service) application environment.

Ian Banwell: “Can’t think of a better time to hand over leadership at HCOB”

“We have profoundly transformed and successfully repositioned the bank since I started at HCOB in 2019. The bank is now a strong, focused and sustainably profitable commercial bank with an outstandingly qualified and motivated team,” Ian Banwell emphasized. “Hamburg Commercial Bank enjoys the full confidence of its customers in all business areas – we can all be very proud of this. Personally, I can’t think of a better time to put the leadership of the bank into new hands and to devote myself to new tasks.” The Supervisory Board of HCOB is currently preparing for the planned change at the top of the Management Board no later than the end of Ian Banwell's contract (end of Q1 2024).

The information contained in this press release does not constitute an offer for the sale of any type of Hamburg Commercial Bank AG securities. Securities of Hamburg Commercial Bank AG may not be sold in the United States without registration pursuant to US securities legislation, unless such a sale takes place on the basis of relevant exceptional provisions.

This press information can contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our beliefs and assumptions, on information currently available to us which we consider reliable. Forward-looking statements include all statements which are not historical facts, including information concerning future growth prospects and future economic developments.

Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions relating to future events and are subject to uncertainties, risks and other factors, a large number we cannot influence. Thus actual events can differ considerably from the forward-looking statements made. We make no warranty for the correctness or completeness of these statements or the actual occurrence of the statements made. Furthermore, we assume no obligation for updating the forward-looking statements after this information has been published.