NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank concluded the first quarter of 2017 with earnings before taxes of EUR 255 million. Consolidated profit stood at EUR 214 million. In the first quarter of the previous year, the Bank posted a pre-tax loss of EUR 107 million.

NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank has placed a further tranche of its “Northvest” loan portfolio transaction with institutional investors. The Northvest platform enables institutional investors to invest directly in the bank’s credit-based business model. In March 2014, the bank placed a securitisation tranche of its loan portfolio with institutional investors for the first time.

As announced in autumn 2016, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank closed the financial year 2016 with a significant loss. The consolidated loss was € 1,865 million before taxes and € 1,959 million after taxes. The loss was the result of a huge increase in the risk provisioning for ship financing, especially at subsidiary Bremer Landesbank (BLB). Overall the Group set aside € 2,940 million for ship financing risks in 2016, after € 840 million in the previous year. This was the Bank's reaction to the dramatic deterioration in the global shipping crisis over the course of 2016.

NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank has presented a study on the devel-opment of Japan, this year's partner country to CeBIT Hanover. According to the study, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics has once again made a success model of the Japanese economy and established a foundation for sustainable growth. In 2016, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Japan grew by 1.0 per cent, led by a strong domestic economy as well as increasingly strong exports. In 2017, the Japanese economy is expected to grow by 1.4 per cent.

NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank’s two Euroland analysts, Dr. Jens Kramer und Christian Lips, have taken first place in the Thomson Reuters/StarMine ranking for the accuracy of economic forecasts for the Eurozone. The Thomson Reuters news agency surveyed the forecasts made by over 60 financial institutions of key economic and financial indicators. Having already taken fifth place for their 2015 forecasts, the NORD/LB economists came out as best forecasters worldwide in the ranking for 2016. They were followed in second place by the analysts at the London-based financial institution Market Securities, with the analysts at BHF Bank coming in third.

On Wednesday, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank issued a EUR 500 million covered bond under Luxembourg law (lettres de gage publiques). This is a transaction of NORD/LB Luxembourg S.A. Covered Bond Bank (NORD/LB CBB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NORD/LB which is currently the only issuer of lettres de gage benchmark bonds. The issue has a term of four and a half years.

The leading universal bank in northern Germany will introduce Traxpay’s Financing Platform to provide automated supply chain financing services to its corporate customers