| BIL 2020 Results: Investing For The Future | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-2020-Results-Investing-For-The-Future.aspx | BIL 2020 Results: Investing For The Future | | <ul class="list-check">
<li>Net income after tax : EUR 101 million, -10% (EUR 112 million in 2019)</li>
<li>Assets under management : EUR 43.7 billion (EUR 43.5 billion in 2019)</li>
<li>Total balance sheet : EUR 30.6 billion, +8.9% (EUR 28.1 billion in 2019)</li>
<li>Customer deposits: EUR 19.8 billion, +4.1% (EUR 19 billion in 2019)</li>
<li>Loans to customers: EUR 15.4 billion, +4.8% (EUR 14.7 billion in 2019)</li>
<li>Common Equity Tier 1 ratio: 13.44% (12.47 % in 2019)</li>
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<b><p>Investing for the future</b></p>
<p>2020 was a year like no other. Throughout the health crisis, and today still, the safety of clients and employees is the Bank’s priority at all times. Due to social distancing, BIL encouraged clients to use digital channels whenever possible to continue to access its services. It introduced new ways of working and ramped up home office capabilities for most employees and kept branches open to appointments with proper sanitary protection.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has induced a deep global economic crisis. In this historically challenging time for clients, BIL continued to provide support to help people and businesses face the social and economic impacts of the crisis. BIL employees remained at the side of clients to ensure their projects, personal or professional, could come to life. As many companies and businesses had to stop or adapt their activities, the Bank strove to help them stay afloat and be ready to resume business crescendo once the situation improved. BIL worked with the Luxembourg Government to implement solutions to support the economy, such as loan deferrals and State-guaranteed loans. Over 2800 loan deferrals were granted in 2020 and to date, a very large majority of these clients resumed the normal course of their payments.</p>
<p>The Bank quickly adapted its operations to these exceptional circumstances remaining focused on its objectives, defined in its 5-year strategic plan. BIL aims at strengthening its position as an innovative and a trusted advisor whilst developing its international wealth management and corporate banking offering.</p>
<b><p>A satisfactory commercial performance despite the adverse environment</b></p>
<p>In 2020, total revenues amounted to EUR 555 million, down by EUR 9 million (-2%) compared with 2019 (EUR 563 million). The contribution of commercial activities to the core operating revenues increased by EUR 3 million (+0.6%) compared with 2019. Throughout 2020, commercial activities were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The lockdown period, travel restrictions and curfews reduced business development (particularly relevant at the level of Wealth Management) and transactional activities (payments and brokerage) for all business lines.
Customer loans increased by 4.8% to EUR 15.4 billion mainly due to mortgage loans which grew by 15.2%, proof of BIL’s ongoing support of the local economy throughout the pandemic. Customer deposits increased by 4.1% to EUR 19.8 billion compared with EUR 19 billion at year-end 2019, nuanced by an increase in current accounts as pandemic restrictions led to contracted client spending and investing throughout 2020.
The adverse macroeconomic outlook impacted all market participants, businesses and the banking industry. The core cost of risk totalled EUR 63 million in 2020 versus EUR 27 million in 2019, largely influenced by the effects of the health crisis, thus significantly impacting 2020 net income.</p>
<p>The Bank reported a net income of EUR 101 million, showing considerable resilience when compared with December 2019 despite the ongoing health crisis and the uncertain economic situation. During the general assembly held on 29 April 2021, the shareholders decided to allocate the 2020 net profit to retained earnings to support the Bank’s development and invest in the future.</p>
<b><p>2021: reconstruction for sustainable growth</b></p>
<p>2020 was a year of unexpected challenges and economic downturn. The lessons learned during the crisis, agility in operations, increased collaboration, support to employees and clients are invaluable assets for the future. In 2021, this situation is expected to continue as vaccination campaigns are still progressing at variable paces throughout the world. BIL will continue to support the economy as it is progressively improving.
“The Luxembourg economy is close to our hearts and I am proud we were able to contribute. I am very confident that our clients and our employees will benefit from our investments made in difficult times” commented Marcel Leyers, CEO of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg.
The Bank will continue to execute its strategic five-year plan Create Together 2025, with the full support of the majority shareholder Legend Holdings, as well as of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Growing its brand domestically and internationally, encouraging and supporting innovation and creating the conditions for sustainable growth remain top priorities.</p>
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</a> | 4/29/2021 11:00:00 AM | EN | In 2020, BIL Group demonstrated its resilience and support to the economy in a context marked by the health crisis. | | |
| BIL partners with CANDRIAM for the development of its ESG services | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-partners-with-CANDRIAM-for-the-development-of-its-ESG-services.aspx | BIL partners with CANDRIAM for the development of its ESG services | | <p>Our planet is increasingly exposed to the unpredictable consequences of climate change and the depletion of natural resources. The investment needed to reach the targets set in the Paris Agreements for 2030 is considerable, and public investment will not be enough.</p>
<p>The finance industry has a decisive role to play in chanelling investments that, as well as generating a return, will help in the pursuit of environmental and social goals. In addition to financial data, asset management companies and financial advisors must incorporate ESG factors into their analysis, and present this clearly to their clients. This is a sizeable challenge for the industry given the huge increase in data volumes and the lack of standards.</p>
<p>As a responsible bank, BIL is committed to sustainable finance. To improve its offering, the bank has partnered with CANDRIAM, a leader in this field. The partnership will give access to CANDRIAM’s ESG expertise: proprietary data, training and advice. With better visibility over, and a greater ability to measure, ESG factors, BIL will be better equipped to reflect them in its investment decisions and in the products and services that it offers its clients.</p>
<p>Alessandra Simonelli, Head of Sustainable Development at BIL, said: “<i>We believe that banks have a key role to play in fighting climate change. By providing clients with clear information on the sustainability of our products, and by developing our ESG range, we will be contributing to this. We felt it essential to join forces with a partner like CANDRIAM whose core business is based on combining fundamental analysis with use of ESG data.</i>”</p>
<p>David Czupryna, Head of ESG Development at CANDRIAM, added: “<i>Because they finance the personal and business projects of the future, banks have a key role to play in the transition towards a more sustainable world. CANDRIAM is proud and honoured to have been chosen to support BIL in its journey as a responsible bank. We will do everything we can to advise it and help make its long-term vision a reality.</i>”</p>
<p>CANDRIAM is one of the first signatories of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. For its assessment process, CANDRIAM employs a dedicated ESG research team, which examines companies’ ESG performance either in absolute terms or relative to industry peers, focusing on those ESG factors considered to be most significant.</p>
| 3/4/2021 11:00:00 AM | EN | To enhance its range of investment products and services that incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, BIL announces a strategic partnership with CANDRIAM. | | |
| BIL investment Outlook for 2021 | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-investment-Outlook-for-2021.aspx | BIL investment Outlook for 2021 | | <p><b>An uneven recovery</b></p>
<p>“The global economy fell into one of the worst recessions last year, but this was caused by government imposed lockdowns, rather than being the result of an economic imbalance,” said Fredrik Skoglund, Chief Investment Officer at BIL. “For 2021, we envisage a recovery resembling a “Nike swoosh” – for which the precipitous drop in 2020 activity will be followed by a gradual normalization.”</p>
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<p>Winged by fiscal and monetary support, major financial markets across the world have largely rebounded, despite the ongoing economic crisis. BIL experts expect the recovery to be uneven from one country to another. Its speed will be dependent upon the success of government containment measures and vaccination roll out, and contingent upon continued policy support. At corporate level, two divergent paths are likely to occur: companies with a strong foothold in digitalization will benefit from the pandemic, companies whose business model have been turned upside down will not be able to operate at full capacity as long as social distancing is the modus operandi.</p>
<p>With public debt levels at record highs, policymakers could perhaps try to coax up inflation to offset some of the burden. This leaves central banks walking a tightrope: they want higher inflation, but they don’t want it to go too high, knowing how painful it could be to bring it down again. “ Monetary policy should continue to be easy in 2021 as the major central banks do not seem to have exhausted their policy jar,” explains Fredrik Skoglund. “ We expect 2021 to be a constructive year, one of rebuilding and of problem-solving, against a backdrop of ongoing policy support and strides towards inoculation.”</p>
<p><b>Diversification and long-term view</b></p>
<p>Equity markets are poised to benefit in such a context, and BIL experts expect slight upside, though much of this is already priced in. Investment style considerations will be important and investors must be prepared for an eventual value catch-up later during the year. With regard to sectors, a nuanced approach is warranted. The new digitalised reality ushered in by the pandemic means some companies will sink and some will swim within individual sectors. Selectivity to ensure the robustness of individual business models has never been more crucial.</p>
<p>With regards to fixed income, investors are hunting for yield and this should likely continue through 2021, with central banks almost certainly poised to keep interest rates lower for longer. According to BIL experts, investors should stay cognizant to the risks at hand. They should not get caught off guard by a modest uptick in inflation, since this is something central banks are clearly trying to conjure.</p>
<p>“Even after coronavirus subsides, its legacy will remain. The way we live has been irreversibly altered. Trends accelerated by the pandemic such as digitalisation are unlikely to fall into reverse, portfolios must be fine-tuned accordingly,” said Fredrik Skoglund. As disruptive as the pandemic has been, it may prove to be a drop in the ocean compared to the next challenge ahead of us: climate change. Concerted, coordinated global action is required. This will be resource intensive and every sector will have a role to play, especially the financial sector.</p>
<p>The Way We Live Now, BIL Investment Outlook 2021 is available on the <a href="https://www.bilinvestmentinsights.com/bil-investment-outlook-2021/" target="_blank">BIL Investment Insights blog</a> (also available in French, German and Dutch).</p> | 1/19/2021 3:00:00 PM | EN | In “ The way we live now”, BIL investment experts discuss the new reality ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic, the digital trends that will stick and the renewed focus on sustainability. | | |
