Equity

Total Shareholders’ equity increased from EUR 1,558 million at the end of 2007 to EUR 1,638 million at the end of 2008. The increase of EUR 80 million mainly stems from the Net profit attributable to parent shareholders of EUR 92 million. Furthermore, the hedging reserve increased by EUR 40 million, mainly due to decreased interest rates, which was more than offset by a decrease of all revaluation reserves by EUR 62 million. Other movements in Shareholders’ equity amounted to EUR 10 million. No dividends were paid to the parent shareholder in 2008.

The Tier-1 ratio further strengthened in 2008 to 16.6%, from an already strong level of 12.0% at year-end 2007. This is well above the industry standard and illustrates the strength of the bank’s capital structure. The core Tier-1 ratio came at 13.5% at year-end 2008 (2007: 9.7%) and the BIS ratio also remained at a strong level of 18.9% (2007: 13.8%).