Swiss consumer lending specialist Cembra Money Bank posted record profits last year. The credit card business in particular grew.
Cembra’s net income increased 6 percent to 161.5 million Swiss francs in 2021, even though revenues decreased 2 percent to 487.0 million Swiss francs, the bank said Wednesday in announcing its annual results.
CEO Holger Laubenthal said the robust development in all business areas and our excellent loss ratio enable us to report a record profit in a challenging environment. Moreover, Cembra also won new partners in the credit card and Buy Now Pay Later areas, he added.
Interest income declined 5 percent due to a lower receivables base in the personal loans business, while at the same time interest expenses decreased by 3 percent 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 percent compared with the previous year. In personal loans, receivables decreased by 5 percent to 2.5 billion Swiss francs, while vehicle financing decreased 1 percent 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.
Receivables in the credit card business increased by 6 percent to 1.0 billion Swiss francs, boosted by an increase in card issuance of 4 percent year-on-year to 1.07 million.
The Board of Directors will propose a 3 percent dividend per share increase 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 percent, followed by Blackrock, Credit Suisse Funds and Swisscanto which each own at least 3 percent of Cembra, according to its website.