Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, in my capacity as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and in accordance with Section 116 para. 1 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act, I take the chair and open today's extraordinary general meeting of Raiffeisen Bank International AG. The Management Board, in consultation with the Supervisory Board and after a careful consideration, has decided to hold today's extraordinary general meeting as a virtual meeting in view of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect shareholders and other participants. Therefore, on the basis of Section 1 of the Federal Act on special measures in company law based on the company law COVID-19 Act as amended and the ordinance of the Federal Minister of Justice on the detailed regulation of the conduct of company law meetings without the physical presence of participants and of resolutions passed by other means, the so-called company law COVID-19 ordinance as amended, today's extraordinary general meeting will be held in the form of a virtual meeting pursuant to Section 3 para. 1 of the company law COVID-19 ordinance without the physical presence of the shareholders. I explicitly note that today's EGM, no special proxies were proposed pursuant to Section 3 para. 4 of the COVID-19 ordinance. This is due to the fact that shareholders are entitled to remote participation in Section 102 para. 3 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act and remote voting, section 1 or 2 para. 3 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act via the AGM portal. I would like to welcome the shareholders of our company and our guests who are watching the annual general -- the extraordinary general meeting on the Internet. A public broadcast of the EGM will take place until the end of the presentation of agenda item 1. The holding of today's EGM as a virtual general meeting in accordance with the company's act COVID-19 and the company's act COVID-19 ordinance, the use of the AGM portal, the absence of the use of special proxies in accordance with section 3, para. 4 of the company's act COVID-19 ordinance and the possibility offered that the right to information and the right to speak pursuant to section 118 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act by telephone in real time during today's Annual General Meeting leads to modifications in the procedures of the general meeting in comparison to an attendance meeting and a virtual general meeting pursuant to the COVID-19 ordinance and the company law as well as in the rights of the shareholders. This was explained in the convocation and in the separate document information on the organization and in technical requirements for participation in the virtual Extraordinary General Meeting of Raiffeisen Bank International AG on 10th of November 2021. Both documents have been made available on the company's website and the notary Dr. Brix is going to give you further explanation in the following. But first, a brief overview of the structure of today's EGM. As a matter of principle, today's extraordinary general meeting will be held in a similar manner to the Annual General Meeting on the 22nd of April 2021. You will first be presented with the report and the proposed resolution on the only item on the agenda. After, any motions for resolutions submitted via the AGM portal shall be read out and this will be followed by the debate on the only item on the agenda, which means that the questions will be read out by me and the questions will be answered by the members of the management Board. I would ask you to take note of the fact that pursuant to Section 118 para. 1 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act, only questions relating to today's sole agenda item will be answered. During the debate on the only item in the agenda, shareholders may also be connected by telephone in order to exercise their right to information and to speak. The vote on the only item on the agenda will take place at the end of the debate. The conduct of the voting procedure will be dealt with separately. I note that, first of all, the convocation to today's extraordinary general meeting in compliance with the provisions of section 106 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act was published in due time in the Wiener Zeitung of 15th of October 2021. And second, in accordance with section 107 para. 3 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act the electronic European distribution by euro adhoc was carried out on the same day. Pursuant to section 180 para. 2 of the Stock Exchange Act, the notice of the meeting was issued simultaneously in machine-readable form via the intermediary chain to the ultimate intermediaries for distribution to the shareholders. The documents to be disclosed pursuant to section 108 para. 3 and 4 of Stock Corporation Act were made available on the company's website on the 15th of October 2021. They include, in particular, information on the organizational and technical requirements for the participation in the virtual extraordinary general meeting pursuant to section 3 para. 3, in connection with section 2 para. 4 of the COVID-19 ordinance also called participation information. There was a question form and there was a proxy form in accordance with section 114 of the Stock Corporation Act. The notary, Dr. Brix, is requested to notarize the resolutions of today's Extraordinary General Meeting to supervise the execution of the voting and to record the minutes in accordance with section 120 Stock Corporation Act. Now I would like to ask the notary Dr. Brix to explain the modalities for exercising shareholders' rights in the context of today's virtual EGM and the course of -- and the conduct of the EGM.

Distinguished shareholders, in the notice convening the EGM of 15th October 2021, it was announced that today's general meeting will be held as a virtual meeting without the physical presence of shareholders. In addition, on October 15, 2021, the information on the organizational and technical requirements for participation in the virtual extraordinary general meeting was published on the company's website pursuant to section 3 para. 3, in connection with section 2 para. 4 COVID ordinance. Today's EGM is being held in the presence of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Erwin Hameseder; the members of the management Johann Strobl, Andreas Gschwenter, Lukasz Januszewski, Peter Lennkh, Hannes Mosenbacher, Andrii Stepanenko and myself as certifying notary. The State Commissioner Alfred Lejsek is virtually present. As representatives of the auditor for the 2020 financial year, KPMG Austria GmbH, Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Mr. [indiscernible] and Mr. Rainer Hassler, can be reached by the Management Board and the Chairman by telephone and e-mail for any questions. They are following the EGM via the live stream. An independent proxy appointed by the company, Dr. Michael Knap, is also responsible for exercising the voting rights and other shareholder rights of the shareholders at the annual -- at the EGM present as representatives of the Investors Association, IVA. Shareholders who deposit confirmation have been received by the company in due time, have received upon request access data for the AGM portal for participation and exercise of shareholder rights. The AGM portal enables registered shareholders to access participation in the EGM by means of an acoustic and visual connection in real time to exercise their rights to vote, to submit a motion for resolution, to file an opposition, to exercise right of information and authorize a representative. The EGM is held in the German language. The entire EGM will be simultaneously translated from German into English. In this regard, we ask you to access the live stream of the English language website. Some information on participation and the exercise of voting rights at the EGM. Registered shareholders can participate in the EGM by means of an acoustic and optical connection in real time and exercise their right to vote themselves. The period during which it will be possible to exercise voting rights via the AGM portal will be determined by the Chairman during the course of the virtual EGM, and it will be announced in good time. To cast a vote in the AGM portal, click on the Vote button provided. Information about how to submit motions, every shareholder is entitled to submit motions at the EGM on the sole item on the agenda. The point in time until which this is possible via the AGM portal will be determined by the Chairman in the course of the virtual EGM, and it will be announced in good time. The Submit Resolution Proposal button is provided for this purpose in the AGM portal. The shareholders' right to information and to speak at today's virtual meeting, the right to information and to speak pursue into section 118, Stock Corporation Act may be exercised by the shareholders themselves exclusively electronically via the AGM portal by e-mail or by telephone in real time at the EGM. The Submit Question button is provided in the AGM portal for exercising the right to information. Furthermore, shareholders may also address questions regarding the only item on the agenda directly to the company by e-mail addressed to the address [email protected]. If shareholders wish to ask their questions by telephone in real time at the EGM, they have to inform the company of this on the AGM portal during the EGM by using the Register to Speak button. The shareholder also provides a telephone number at which he or she can be reached during the EGM. Shareholders who have registered to speak in the manner just described will receive a call back from a member of the company's staff with further instructions on the technical procedure to be followed for being connected by telephone. There will be a check made to ensure that the quality of the audio transmission is sufficient for the real-time link to the broadcast of the EGM. If this is the case, the Chairman of the meeting will order the shareholder to be connected at a suitable point. The technical prerequisite for the telephone connection in real time is for the shareholder to have a telecommunications network connection that is sufficiently powerful for audio transmission. Otherwise, the shareholder may submit his or her question as just described, via the Submit Question button in the AGM portal or by e-mail. In order to identify shareholders, the questions sent by e-mail must be answered with the full name, date of birth or company register number, which only in the case of legal entities as well as the securities account number and the name of the custodian bank as well as the reproduction of the name signature or other means of identification. Shareholders may use the question form provided on the company's website, which contains the above information on identity. In order to be economical with meeting time, questions could be submitted in good time before the EGM to the e-mail address I've mentioned before. the company reserves the right not to answer questions that cannot be assigned to a specific shareholder. And for the record, for any inconsistencies, shareholders who have exercised their voting rights can declare their objection to resolutions of the Annual General Meeting for the record electronically via the AGM portal until the end of the EGM. The Submit Objection button has been provided for this purpose on the portal. On the granting of power of attorney pursuant to section 113 Stock Corporation Act, each shareholder entitled to participate in the virtual EGM has the right to appoint the proxy to participate in the virtual general meeting on behalf of the shareholder and to have the same rights as the shareholder whom he or she represents. The Power of Attorney for Proxies button has been provided on the portal for this purpose. Shareholders can also use the portal to change or revoke any proxy and instructions previously issued during the EGM up to the start of voting participation in the virtual EGM by the proxy through electronic connection via the portal requires that the proxy receives the individual access data to the AGM portal from the [ grantor ] of the proxy. For the exercise of voting rights and other shareholder rights at the EGM via the independent proxy, Dr. Michael Knap, instructions must be given to the IVA for the exercise of voting rights. Without such explicit instructions, the voting right will not be exercised. Even if the independent proxy of the IVA is authorized, the proxy must be sent to the company as described in the convocation or entered via the portal. For this purpose, the portal contains the button Power of Attorney and instructions for IVA. I would like to point out that the representative of the IVA, Michael Knap, is not a special proxy pursuant to section 3 para. 4 COVID-19 ordinance. As far as technical support is concerned in the event of technical or organizational questions regarding the use of the portal. Any shareholder may also contact the hotline during the EGM, either by telephone, +43 (0) 1 3750 215-17. You will see the number on your screen or by e-mail to [email protected]. Now on the debate on the only item on the agenda, at today's EGM the shareholders' questions will be read out by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and then answered by the Management Board. Chairman will structure the proceeding -- the conduct of the general meeting in terms of time and will, in particular, announce in due course a specific time up to which questions may be asked. The Chairman will also announce in good time the time up to which shareholders can submit motions for resolutions in the portal. The Chairman will also announce in good time to point in time after which it is possible to exercise voting rights in the portal. It should be pointed out that the vote will be taken by using the addition method on the only item on the agenda, and the Chairman will explain this in detail immediately before the vote.

Thank you very much, Dr. Brix. Thank you for your explanation. As Chairman, I direct that today's EGM be conducted in the minute set out in the convocation dated 15th October 2021 and in the document information on the organizational and technical requirements for participation in the virtual Extraordinary General Meeting of Raiffeisen Bank International AG on the 10th November 2021. Those documents were published on the company's website and were also presented by notary Dr. Brix. The list of participants will be completed before the debate on the only item on the agenda. It will be signed by me, and you will be informed of the present numbers. Shareholders have, however, the opportunity to view the list of participants via the EGM portal. I'm going to indicate this as soon as the first version is available via the button list of attendees accessible documents. Before we move on to the agenda, please allow me shareholders, to make the following introductory remarks on the 2021 financial year-to-date. After a challenging winter half year 2020-2021 characterized by lockdowns and easings and had a particularly strong economic impact on the service sector, both on the tourism industry, a dynamic economic upturn was recorded in RBI's markets over the summer of 2021. This pleasant development is equally reflected in RBI's pleasant business performance with a consolidated result of EUR 1.055 billion as of the third quarter 2021, and this is reflected in the currently satisfying development of the RBI share price. Dr. Strobl will then go and explain in detail about the development of business figures in 2021 to date and also provide an outlook for the business year 2022. Considering progress with vaccination rates, against the COVID-19 virus, a nationwide lockdown measure is no longer to be expected until the end of the year. However, we must wait and see the impact of the currently dramatic rise in COVID infection rates. We expect solid economic development despite disturbances in some industrial supply chains for the rest of the year. And this is positively reflected in projected real GDP developments at year-end 2021. And as the fiscal year progresses, planning assumptions related to business and risk and capital developments are visibly subject to low COVID-19-related uncertainties. In view of these positive macroeconomic developments, the ECB announced on the 23rd July 2021, that its recommendation regarding dividend payments would expire at the end of September 2021. As owner representative, I would like to state that this step by the ECB was long expected, if I may put it that way, especially since owners provided that business development allows it, should participate in a successful business development of their company, also to promote an attractive capital market. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can also observe a progressive market consolidation in the CE banking sector. Given this development, RBI's acquisition steps for inorganic growth, such as the acquisition of FX and payments provider, Akcenta, the finalization of the acquisition of Equa Bank in the Czech Republic and the acquisition of Crédit Agricole in Serbia must be seen in the slide. The activities set are intended to support strong credit growth and the achievement of economies of scale, which should improve our market position and ultimately sustainably increase RBI's enterprise value. I would like to state that the Supervisory Board of RBI fully supports the growth path taken in selected markets. And it is always available to advise the Management Board on the implementation of strategic steps. In 2021, the Supervisory Board held 3 workshops with the Management Board in which strategic issues relating to the future strategic direction of RBI were discussed in detail. At this point, I would also like to emphasize, however, that the Supervisory Board pays great attention at all times to prudent capital planning against sound capitalization. whenever exploiting growth opportunities and managing RBI's risk policy. And it acts in unison with the Management Board in this regard. Taking into account the expired ECB recommendation on dividend payments as of the end of September 2021 and given an in-depth review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on RBI's financial risk and capital situation, a resolution proposal has been submitted to the EGM today, which provides for an additional dividend payment of EUR 0.75 per share. The joint resolution proposal of the Management Board and Supervisory Board strikes a balance between shareholder participation in RBI's business success and prudent forward-looking business and capital planning. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Management Board and the Supervisory Board and particularly the Chairman of the Management Board, Johann Strobl, for their constructive cooperation. I would also like to thank the employees of RBI, whose tireless commitment to the good of RBI makes them a key pillar of our company's success. We will now enter the agenda. And I would like to hand over to the Chairman of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank International, Johann Strobl, and ask him for his explanations.

Thank you very much, Chairman. I'd like to use the opportunity to thank you and all members of the Supervisory Board for the huge amount of time you are devoting to us. It's been a highly intensive year. You said that numerous strategic topics had to be discussed and are now being implemented. Shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to have this Extraordinary General Meeting today. I do hope that we're going to remember this day as a remarkable and noteworthy day. This is my hope because I believe that this day marks the end of a difficult phase. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was so much uncertainty. Hannes Mosenbacher, our CRO, at an early point in time, presented his view of the possible implications and shared them with the capital market. He always presented an optimistic picture. And ultimately, it turns out that we've been right. Nevertheless, we have to listen to all those who asked for reservation in this period of uncertainty, and this is how we view the ECB's recommendation not to pay out dividends and not to take any other measures that would reduce the capitalization of a bank for quite some time. Progress in vaccination rates and also the way we've learned how to deal with the pandemic, how to contain its spread through targeted individual restrictions imposed by the public authorities, all that showed that in conjunction with support measures taken by all the governments in the region we operate in, all that taken together had a very positive impact. And as a company, we have gained valuable experience. I think we all know now how to deal with a pandemic in the future. And therefore, the easing of restrictions is welcomed. And that leads us on to the only agenda item of this extraordinary general meeting that is the proposal to pay out an additional dividend in addition to the dividend already paid out. The Management Board, together with the Supervisory Board, assessed the situation several times again and again over time. And we were happy to see that from quarter-to-quarter, the results were improving, and the outlook is quite promising. I'd like to briefly summarize what we already presented when we disclosed the Q3 figures, and I would like to put that in a broader context and tell you why we believe that an additional dividend of EUR 0.75 a well-balanced proposal. As Erwin Hameseder already said, after 9 months, we report a consolidated profit of more than EUR 1 billion. This is a satisfactory result, a good increase over the previous year, and what is particularly important for shareholders and all of this is how have we arrived at this result. It's particularly important that core revenues, net interest income and net fee and provision income have developed very well. As regards net interest income, we are almost at the previous year's level. Net fee and commission income is significantly higher, and this shows that the economy has been developing very well. We are particularly happy that we've been able to support our customers with loans. This is our core task. For the first time, we have exceeded the EUR 1 billion mark in loans granted to customers and the value of the Equa Bank, which has been consolidated since the 1st of July has made a substantial contribution. Our CET1 ratio is 13.2%. Risk costs are 20 -- provisioning ratio is 21 basis points, and that results in a satisfactory return on equity of 11.1%. This satisfactory development of RBI, to a certain extent, the pandemic has put us to the test and our resilience -- the resilience of our business model has been put to the test. And Moody's on that basis, upgraded our long-term rating from A2 to -- sorry, from A3 to A2. When we are talking about acquisitions, the integration of Equa Bank, Akcenta and the process of acquiring Crédit Agricole, all that makes us optimistic for the future. As regards the field of finance, we are aiming at further improvement steps and the preliminary figures for 2021 will be presented on the 2nd of February, and we intend to have our next AGM on the 31st of March. Already mentioned parts of the income statement and I would simply like to highlight the most important items. On the one hand, year-on-year, this does not yet include general administrative expenses but we do see a moderate development, plus 2% overall. Of course, we are all following the discussion about wage increases, the rate of inflation. And in the coming quarters, we will have to reckon with higher rates of increase. There is one detail, which I'd like to share with you because it shows how well the banking industry has been developing, RBI included. This is a comparison of 4 quarters development of net interest income. You will remember that central banks at the beginning of the pandemic, very quickly, reduced interest rates. That was a big burden on our net interest income. But as we can see in the third quarter, we have almost returned to the level of the excellent fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. This is to do with an enlarged business volume, higher loan volume, but we can already see the first impacts of interest rates increased by the Central Bank. So on the right-hand side, of this diagram, you can see the development of net fee and commission income. It turns out that the service quality of our group of banks of all our employees is an excellent one. And I'd like to thank our staff and my colleagues on the Management Board, most cordially for that. As regards to the balance sheet, I think there is not much to be said about that. I already mentioned loans to banks, the most important item. You find a kind of outlook in the bottom left-hand corner. The question is how is our new lending business developing, not just existing business, but new lending business. I have always pointed out that in mortgage lending, there was no major downturn because demand for better housing was strong in all segments. But those are -- however, in unsecured retail loans, we saw a significant decline, which didn't come as a surprise given the significant restrictions imposed. And as regards retail loans, we have again returned to an excellent level. And when we look at long-term mortgage lending, you can see a slight decline between the second and the third quarters against the background of the fact in the individual market, we did see signs of overheating. And from our perspective, it's a rather favorable development if there is a certain cooling down in this market segment. Our CET1 ratio stands at 13.2%, there is a good buffer compared to the minimum requirement of 10.4%. As regard the development of the CET1 ratio is important when we think about the dividend payout proposal. Last year, we had a CET1 ratio at the end of the year of 13.6%. Excellent loan growth, of course, costs us in terms of CET1, 83 basis points since the beginning. Volatilities in the market and the enlarged business volume lead to higher market and operational risk and 29 basis points. There are a few other effects which I'm going to skip for the time being, but we have a positive impact from retained earnings, an improvement by 107 basis points and of course, the impact of Equa Bank of 30 basis points. At the end of the third quarter, we have had a CET1 ratio of 13.2%, which is well above our target and part of the reason why we want to pay out an additional dividend. The dividend reduces our capital. And therefore, the question arises, how do we see medium-term developments? We are quite confident that in the coming 2 years, we're going to see high demand for loans. Of course, there are differences between the individual markets. This is due not least to developments in recent years. But taken together, we do expect loan growth of between 7% and 9%, not the same in all countries. In some countries, it may be even higher. But that is the average for the coming years, which we expect. That means we see good growth opportunities. Our optimism is based on the forecast regarding the development of GDP, which is being updated continuously by our research department, and we can see that in numerous countries. The downturn in last year has been offset already this year. And in those countries where it hasn't been fully offset yet, it's to be expected for the coming year. We see growth rates between 5% and 7% between -- for 2021, slightly less in Eastern Europe, but the downturn was less significant there. And when we look to 2022 and '23, we can see growth rates an average of 4%. And in Eastern Europe, that is our assessment, we will have a potential growth of 1.5%. All that on the basis of positive assumptions, a disclaimer may be in place here and there, the question is, is my assessment regarding COVID-19, too optimistic. To what extent will geopolitical tension dampen economic development? The question about supply chains and problems there that might have a negative impact on output. There are questions regarding the inflation rate and the shortage of skilled labor. Those are systemic issues that might burden us in the coming years, and that might dampen economic developments. Our outlook, by the end of this year, we expect the loan volume to grow by around 11%, excluding even the Equa Bank. As regards risk costs, we do have an outlook for the coming year already, and we expect a gradual return to a normal rate. Our prudent assessment is 40 basis points. We're using that for our plans. I think this is justified given the favorable economic forecasts we use as a basis for our plans. 40 basis points, just to remind you of that, slightly below the average of an economic cycle. I mentioned inflation in all countries, that will put costs under pressure. In the coming year, we will have to physically integrate the acquisitions made this year. There will be additional integration costs and the 55% cost income ratio remains our medium-term target, but there may well be one-off effect next year, which means that 55% cannot be reached under certain circumstances. As regards to our return on equity, given the sound perspective, a sound outlook, the target of 11% is a realistic target. In this -- these circumstances, the CET1 ratio should not drop below 13%. And what's particularly interesting for you, the payout ratio will be between 20% and 40%. We've been asked again and again, why is such a broad range of the payout ratio. Consolidation is happening in our markets. We were involved in one or the other consolidation steps. And consolidation, of course, costs us capital. We were happy to accommodate the Equa Bank in the capital ratio, and we'll make it also with Crédit Agricole in Serbia. And of course, we ask for your support given our proposal of this broad range in the payout ratio. Shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, all that, having presented all that, we believe the Management Board in consultation with the Supervisory Board, we believe that the dividend proposal of EUR 0.75 per share is a well-balanced one. It enables you, as shareholders, to participate in the success of our business, and it allows RBI to make use of growth opportunities, which we expect to see in our markets. Originally for 2019, we had envisaged a dividend of EUR 1. Now we are in a different situation. And based on what I just said, we think that a slight reduction of the original proposal by EUR 0.25 is in the best interest of the company and also of the shareholders. And this is why we are proposing an additional dividend of EUR 0.75 per share. Thank you very much, shareholders, but I have an additional report to present. I hear a -- I would like to submit the report required by section 65 para. 3 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act. At the Annual General Meeting of the company on October 20, 2020, the Management Board of the company was authorized to acquire, and if necessary, redeem treasury shares in accordance with section 165 para. 1 of the Stock Corporation Act. The Management Board has not yet made use of this authorization to acquire own shares. The company and its affiliated companies currently hold a total of 418,969 treasury shares. This corresponds to around 0.13% of the company's share capital. In addition, Raiffeisen Central Bank AG, a subsidiary of the company has purchased, between the 1st January 2021 and 30th October 2023, in particular for the purpose of market making, an aggregate number of 14,017,802 shares, representing a share in the share capital of the company of approximately 4.26% and an amount of EUR 224,700,579 and in total sold 13,899,682 shares for the proportion of the share capital of approximately 4.22% and an amount of EUR 220,165,386, shares. The share capital of the company being EUR 1,003,265,844.05 billion and the company having issued 328,939,621 shares. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Johann Strobl. Let me express once more my heartfelt thanks to you and your team in the Management Board for the exemplary management of our bank, which makes it possible for us to have this EGM. And this takes me to the only item on the agenda resolution on the appropriation of net profit as reported in the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020. The Management Board and the Supervisory Board proposed that the Extraordinary General Meeting adopt the following resolution. The resolution adopted at the Annual General Meeting of 22nd of April 2021 regarding the appropriation of the net profit for the 2020 financial year for the distribution of a dividend of EUR 0.48 for each ordinary share entitled to receive a dividend shall be amended as follows in order to distribute an additional dividend. The utilization of the net profit reported in the company's annual financial statements as of 31st December 2020 in the amount of EUR 480,635,240.34 will be as follows: an additional dividend of EUR 0.75 per ordinary share shall be distributed on the ordinary shares entitled to a dividend on the dividend date 17th of November 2021 corresponding to a maximum distribution amount of EUR 246,704,715.75. The company is not entitled to any dividend from its own shares. The remaining net profit after the distribution of the additional dividend shall be carried forward to new account. The payment of the additional dividend in the amount of EUR 0.75 per ordinary share entitled to receive for dividend which corresponds to a maximum additional distribution amount of 246,704,715.75 shall be made on the 17th of November 2021 via the respective custodian bank of the shareholders entitled to receive a dividend. Rationale. On 22nd of April 2021, the Annual General Meeting, taking into account the recommendations of the European Central Bank on dividend distributions during the COVID-19 pandemic enforced at that time, resolved to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.48 for each share entitled to receive a dividend and to carry forward the remaining net profit to new account. On the 23rd of July 2021, the European Central Bank, ECB, decided and communicated in a press release that its recommendation for all banks to limit dividend payments would not be extended beyond September 2021. The ECB's current recommendation on dividend payments will -- therefore expired on the 30th of September 2021. As already explained and announced in the explanatory memorandum to the proposed resolutions for the Annual General Meeting on the 22nd of April 2021 regarding the appropriation of profits, the Management Board has evaluated, given the expiry of the ECB's recommendation of dividend restrictions whether an additional dividend distribution of the remaining net profit as of 31st of December 2020 carried forward by the resolution at the Annual General Meeting should be proposed retrospectively at an Extraordinary General Meeting. The Management Board in consultation with the Supervisory Board and after a thorough examination of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and on the key business indicators of the company, in particular, on the CET1 ratio and the need for own funds for the coming period has decided to propose to the Extraordinary General Meeting on 10th of November 2021 an additional dividend distribution in the amount of EUR 0.75 per ordinary share entitled to receive a dividend. This corresponds to a maximum additional distribution amount of EUR 246,704,715.75 million. Including the dividend of EUR 0.48 for each share entitled to a dividend, which was resolved at the Annual General Meeting of 22nd of April 2021 and distributed, the total dividend amounts to EUR 1.23 for each share entitled to a dividend. This concludes the presentation of the reports and the proposed resolution of the Management Board and the only item on the agenda. This is also the end of the public broadcast of the EGM. I would like to say goodbye to all viewers, and I would like to thank you for your interest. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]