Annual Report 2004

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While staff costs and income developments seem to have shown a higher correlation recently, staff costs increased more significantly (+2.5% per annum in the fourth quarter of 2004) than operating expenses. Austrian banks continued their consolidation efforts by further reducing the number of banking offices and staff: Between end-1997 and December 2004, the number of banking offices (head offices and branches) was cut by 7.7% from 5,686 to 5,248, and the number of credit institutions went down from 995 to 882. A similar development may be reported for staff numbers. During the period under review, the number of employees 2 declined from 70,967 to 65,615 (—7.5%). However, banks still ensured a high degree of banking service coverage: Banking density in Austria remained well above the European average, and the demand for traditional bank services diminished as more and more customers opted for alternative distribution channels (especially Internet banking). Operating business is improving and the impact of provisioning is expected to decrease further. Banks operating in Austria expect profits to amount to EUR 2.98 billion for the year 2004, which is considerably higher (+44%) than the actual profit for the year 2003. Return on assets (ROA) 3 is expected to rise to 0.46% after climbing from 0.24% in 2002 to 0.34% in 2003. The profitability of Austrian banks remained weak compared with those of other EU countries despite strong domestic profit growth, high margins from business activities in the CEECs and continued consolidation efforts. This tepid performance may be attributed to strong competition, which resulted in low interest margins, as well as high staff costs (by international standards) and the high cost of maintaining an extensive banking offices network. 2004 was a good year also for other financial intermediaries. Insurance companies, for example, considerably expanded their total assets and improved their profits mainly on grounds of better financial results, a strong performance in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets as well as tighter cost management. TheassetsheldbyAustrianinvestment funds enlarged by 12.9% to EUR 125 billion between December 2003 and December 2004, with debt securities making up the largest part of invested capital (70%). Stocks and equity securities accounted for 17%; the remaining capital was invested in other assets and mutual fund shares. With assets to the tune of EUR 456 million, the significance of real estate funds (which have been in the market since end-2003) was still low despite strong capital inflows. The total performance (realized yields) of all Austrian investment 2 These figures refer to actual staff capacities, i.e. excluding staff on paid paternal leave or unpaid sabbaticals. 3 Annual profits relative to total assets. The OeNB as a Competent Partner in Ensuring Financial Stability Positive trends for other financial intermediaries Annual Report 2004 × 39
The OeNB as a Competent Partner in Ensuring Financial Stability Stress test results prove shock resilience of the Austrian banking system funds between January and December 2004 came to 6.0%, up from 5.5% in 2003. Pension fundsÕ assets amounted to EUR 10.1 billion at end-December 2004, with most investment decisions being outsourced to investment funds: 94% of total assets were invested in mutual fund shares. In 2004, the annual performance of all pension funds stood at 7.3%, up significantly from the results recorded in previous years. IMF Gives Positive Assessment of Austrian Financial Market Between June 2003 and August 2004, the Austrian financial sector was subject to a voluntary evaluation within the framework of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). FSAPs aim to identify the vulnerabilities of a countryÕs financial system both to prevent crises and determine priorities for the future development of the financial sector as well as to enhance financial system efficiency. In the course of the FSAP, IMF representatives spent several weeks on working visits in Vienna. These visits were dedicated to reviewing the financial market reforms that had been implemented over the past few years and to assessing the compliance of both the new supervisory structures and supervisory legislation with internationally recognized principles and standards (principles of efficient banking, insurance and securities supervision, combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism). The OeNB and the IMF devised and conducted stress tests to assess the impact of exogenous shocks on the Austrian banking sector with a view to determining financial stability in Austria. These stress tests combined scenarios of extreme (but still plausible) changes in one or more risk factors (e.g. waning economic growth, crash of the Austrian stock market, increasing interest rates, appreciation of the Swiss franc, etc.) with information on banksÕ exposures (e.g. loan portfolio, equity exposure, interest rate-sensitive position, open foreign exchange position, etc.) and measured the resulting loss (or profit) that subsequently changes banksÕ capital ratios. Stress tests were carried out for individual institutions and for entire banking sectors with a special focus on credit risk, market risk (interest rate risk, exchange rate risk and equity price risk) and contagion risk in the Austrian banking sector. A key result of the stress tests was that the Austrian banking system is resilient to external shocks thanks to its high degree of capitalization: The unconsolidated capital ratio of the Austrian banking sector stood at 14.8% in mid-2004. The stress tests did not suggest any systemic impacts of external shocks for the entire Austrian banking sector. As expected, twofactorshadthestrongestimpact on the capital ratio: credit risk (domestic credit risk, credit risk in the CEECs, indirect credit risk of foreign 40 × Annual Report 2004
Page 1 and 2: √ Oesterreichische Nationalbank S
Page 4 and 5: ˆ Report on the Financial Year 200
Page 6 and 7: In 2004 the global economy expanded
Page 8: Financial Statements of the Oesterr
Page 11 and 12: GeneralCouncil(Generalrat),StateCom
Page 13 and 14: Organization Chart President Herber
Page 16: ˆ Report of the Governing Board (D
Page 19 and 20: The Eurosystem Secures Price Stabil
Page 39: The OeNB as a Competent Partner in
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Page 49 and 50: Competition and transparency in cas
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Page 63 and 64: ÒStability and SecurityÓ — the
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Page 69 and 70: The OeNB — An Innovative, Dynamic
Page 78 and 79: ˆ Financial Statements of the Oest
Page 80 and 81: Liabilities December 31, 2004 Decem
Page 82 and 83: Notes to the Financial Statements 2
Page 84 and 85: Future market developments, especia
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Page 88 and 89: Development of the OeNBÕs Currency
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SDRs equivalent to EUR 38.831 milli
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4 Claims on non-euro area residents
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such credit is provided not by the
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9.1 Participating interest in the E
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9.2 Claims equivalent to the transf
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Equipment developed as follows: Cos
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11.6 Sundry Sundry assets comprise
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The table below shows the annual av
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11 Items in course of settlement Cl
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13 Provisions Under the OeNBÕs ini
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15 Capital and reserves A summary o
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Notes to the Profit and Loss Accoun
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ance with Article 69 paragraph 1 of
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Governing Board (Direktorium) Gover
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Profit for the Year and Proposed Pr
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ˆ Notes
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x = No data can be indicated techni
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Core inflation: inflation measure t
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Primary balance: government net bor
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Periodical Publications of the Oest
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Artwork All artwork featured in thi
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The Annual Report of the OeNB provi
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Annual Report 2004

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