This report analyses the building savings business in the Czech Republic for the 4Q2012. You will find all the necessary details regarding volume growth, market share, margin and asset quality development in the building savings (as well as mortgage lending segment). Also, the report compares profitability and efficiency ratio of the largest player CMSS with the main player in the mortgage lending business - Hypotecni Banka to find out how market dominance translates into economies of scale and superior profitability.
The key highlights from 4Q2012 we discuss in this report are:
• The business remains under pressure in spite of its impressive profitability. ROE fell to 15.2% in 2012 and net profit dropped 6% yoy in 4Q
• Lending continues to fall and is losing to mortgages. In 4Q12, the annual decline deepened to 3.3% yoy
• 4Q12 confirmed a recovery in terms of the number of new contracts sold, while deposits grew by a seasonally strong 3.2% qoq
• ČMSS remains the leader, but Raiffeisen grabs most of the growth
This report focuses specifically on development in Modra Pyramida in 4Q2012, the building savings bank of Komercni Banka. The main conclusions are:
Market position
Modrá Pyramida, fully owned by Komerční Banka, is the second largest building savings bank, with a 17.1% share of lending and a 16.5% share of building savings deposits.
The bank gained a market share of approximately 20 bp in loans in 4Q12, twice as much as for the full year 2012, but on the other hand, it lost the most out of all five building savings banks on the deposit side – 55 bp in 4Q12, by our calculation (but gained 5 bp in the full year 2012).
Despite gaining market share over the last two years, the bank’s overall balance sheet momentum remains negative. Loans declined by a further 1.2% qoq in the last quarter and the full-year decline reached 4.3% yoy, while overall deposits dropped 1.7% in 4Q and were flat in 2012.
Profitability
Modrá Pyramida remains impressively profitable in spite of the market slowdown. In 2012, the bank achieved ROE of 14.2%, which is a remarkable achievement given the fact that the bank’s capital adequacy has been exceeding 20%, the highest figure on the market.
When adjusted for surplus of capital (when ROE is adjusted to the building savings market average for each bank), Modrá Pyramida becomes the most profitable building savings bank on the market:
Part of Modrá Pyramida’s superior profitability, however, is helped by a low tax burden. Thanks to its structure of debt securities, the bank’s effective tax rate is 8.5% over the last three years, half of the sector average.
Asset quality
Non-performing loans rose CZK 45 mil, or 3.0%, in 4Q and reached 3.09% of total loans (up from 2.70% at the end of 2011). Provision coverage remains relatively solid at nearly 62%, compared to the 53% of the market.
Cost-efficiency
Similarly to ČMSS, the market leader, Modrá Pyramida seems to be less cost-efficient than the other savings banks. Operating costs accounted for 0.80% of average assets at Modrá Pyramida in 2012, more than the 0.73% seen on the market. On the other hand, Modrá Pyramida’s cost-to-income ratio is better than the market (again, similar to ČMSS).
Being the two strongest lenders on the market (alongside ČMSS), it suggests that lending activity is relatively cost-demanding, but rewarded on the revenue side and in the bank’s bottom line.
Closer cooperation with Komerční Banka following the takeover in 2006 seems to be bearing fruit, so a further tie-up of Pyramida’s sales network with Komerční’s products (and the fees generated from that) will be interesting to watch for in the coming quarters.
Helgi Library 
