2010 was a good year for PostFinance: profit (EBT) rose by 28 percent to CHF 575 million. Last year, PostFinance increased its profit (EBT) to CHF 575 million, a rise of 28 percent (CHF 126 million) on the previous year. Despite the difficulties on the financial markets, good interest income was one of the main factors leading to this excellent result, along with cost discipline. Last year, PostFinance increased its net interest income after writedowns to CHF 1,044 million (previous year: CHF 905 million). This was mainly due to higher customer deposits, lower interest expenses and its long-term prudent investment strategy.

10,000 new customers every month

Last year 119,000 new customers placed their trust in PostFinance (previous year: 126,000). The number of customer accounts rose by 198,000, so that PostFinance now manages almost 4.1 million customer accounts. Customer deposits rose by CHF 11 billion, or 15 percent, to CHF 84 billion. In addition to increasing its customer numbers, PostFinance also created 223 new jobs, bringing the number of FTEs to 3,265 at the end of 2010. This means that since its creation in 1999, PostFinance has more than doubled its workforce.

2010 centimes as a thank you to customers

Over the twelve-month period, monies in Deposito accounts rose from CHF 20 billion to CHF 26 billion (+30%). This CHF 6 billion accounts for almost half the total new customer deposits received last year. Funds in the investment sub-market also rose, from CHF 21 billion to CHF 23 billion (+10%). Such is the scale of customer deposits that PostFinance wants customers to share in the success it achieved in 2010. Anyone who received credit interest on one or more Deposito or e-Deposito accounts on 31 December 2010 will receive 2010 centimes (CHF 20.10) per account. Euro account holders will receive 2010 cents. The amount will be transferred to the account holders in March. This gesture is a way for PostFinance to thank its customers for their loyalty.

Course set for becoming a public limited company

Parliament passed a new Postal Organization Act on 17 December 2010. This stipulates among other things that PostFinance will be transformed into a public limited company subject to supervision by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The Federal Council will decide on exactly when the transition will take place. Preparatory work for creating the new legal form is currently underway. PostFinance will have a Board of Directors and its own internal auditors. PostFinance AG will be provided with equity in line with the requirements of financial market law. FINMA will decide how much equity is to be provided, and when. In accordance with banking law, PostFinance requires approval for FINMA supervision. This will be sought from FINMA during the current year. Even when this approval has been granted, PostFinance will not be allowed to grant loans or mortgages under its own name.