AMSTERDAM, 06/08/05 - Investment bank Binck is not opposed to a takeover. "Providing this is in the interests of clients and shareholders and does not stand in the way of Binck's ambitions," said CEO AndrČ Teeuw Friday at the presentation of first-half results.
The Internet bank has for some time been the focus of takeover speculation, which has again been in full spate in the past week. In this connection, ABN Amro Bank, ING, Fortis and the Royal Bank of Scotland have been named as possibly interested. Budget investment service providers like Binck and Alex have increasingly siphoned off market share from the big banks in recent years.
Binck's private client list rose to nearly 27,000 at end-June from just under 16,000 at end-June 2004. Revenues in the first half expanded to 26.8 million euros from 18.5 million a year earlier. Net profit soared to 6.6 million euros from 300,000 euros, surpassing analysts' forecasts.
For the Wholesale division, which settles securities transactions for big clients, conditions remained mediocre. The division booked a loss of 100,000 euros. "We have not yet built up a reputation in the professional segment. I do expect that this will happen," explained Teeuw.
Meanwhile, Binck is occupied with expanding its activities for private clients into Belgium. "We expect to begin there at the start of next year," Teeuw stated. Binck will enter the competition there against Keytrade among others.
For the rest of the year, Binck is expecting a continuation of the positive trends in results, though depending on market conditions. Teeuw was not able to put a figure on this. Earlier, Binck said it expected earnings to be lower in the second half than in the first half.?
