Sowing seeds for
the future
Holland in
Brief
Staff communication magazine for the Rabö
Interim results
New structure
for international
treasuries
Looking ahead
Important note
for your diary:
Rabobanks in billions
Benelux commemorated
Mortgage choice
Best bank award
ISSUE 33/19 SEPTEMBER 1994
At the first of a series of 'business evenings', Rabobank
launched its extensive report on The World Seed Market before
signing a sponsorship agreement for the Féderation
International du Commerce de Semence (international seed
trade federation - FIS) global congress in 1996.
Afj
Mid-year results published at
the end of August show
healthy growth for the Rabo
bank organization as a whole.
Pre-tax profit grew 12.2 per
cent to NLG 994 (886) million
against the same period last
year, and net profit increased
by 11.4 (7.9) percent. Measures
to reduce costs have already
proved effective, with expenses
rising by only 3.6 percent.
Over the past few months, a
new structure has been intro-
duced into the operations of
treasuries in the international
offices. See page 3.
September: Milan is officially
upgraded to branch status.
September 15: The World Grain
Market report is published.
October: Intermopro, the inter
national dairy fair held in
Dusseldorf, Germany, is co-
sponsored by Rabobank.
October 4: The bank focuses on
the Middle East in the 'country
day' program.
October 18: The Shanghai repre-
sentative office opens officially.
October 27: A US 'country day'
is hosted in Utrecht.
November: Dublin is added to
the international network, and
Popular Rabobank opens
officially.
September 22: A video pres-
entation on the 'As good as
the best' drive will be shown
at all foreign offices on or
around this date. The presen-
tation is a repüca of a similar
event to be held that evening
for CBS staff in Utrecht. Ple-
ase try to attend as it compri-
ses important information
on the bank's future.
The bank's agri-research team
has built up a growing repu-
tation for the excellence and in-
sight of their world studies on
food and agribusiness sectors.
The success of these reports has
now led to a new approach in
presenting them to important
players in the field concerned.
The first of these so-called 'busi
ness evenings' on the seed sector
brought together top managers
ffom the industry with the aim of
opening up a dialogue not only
on the sector concerned, but also
on Rabobank's role as global
food and agribusiness bank.
Like all the studies in this series,
The World Seed Market is a
comprehensive overview of the
sector, including structure, con-
centration, world consumption,
production, as well as possible
future strategies for the industry.
The propogation of seeds is a
highly technical and capital in
tensive business, and this aspect
of the sector is also covered at
length by the report. 'For bank
ers,' said Cor Broekhuyse, 'the
3
h
seed business is a very difficult
one because the value of stock is
hard to determine. A company
may look a less viable prop-
osition because it has invested
heavily in new strains, or alter-
natively, look very good because
it has not put a lot into R&D
recently. These are just a couple
of the factors that mean real
knowledge of the sector is essen-
tial for bankers.' Clearly, the
message to the industry is that
Rabobank not only understands
the sector's needs and can evalu-
ate its performance, it also has
the financial strength to support
those needs.
The seed business evening prov
ed an ideal opportunity to emp-
hasize Rabobank's commitment
to the industry as Henk Gentis
and Broekhuyse formally signed
an agreement on behalf of the
bank with FIS to pro vide major
sponsoring for its next biannual
congress. This international
event will be held in Amsterdam
in June 1996 and the organizers
expect over 1,500 participants.
According to July statistics, eight
member Rabobanks have a
balance total of over NLG 1 bil-
lion (around half a billion US
dollars). The three largest banks
are located in Midden-Westland
(NLG 1.469 billion), Sluis-ljzen-
dijke (1.456) and Amsterdam
(1.444). The member bank in
Appeltern is the smallest of the
total 650 local Rabobanks and
has a balance total of NLG 21.3
million.
On September 5, the Dutch Mint
issued the first Benelux NLG 10
piece to mark the 50th anniver-
sary of the economie treaty sign
ed by the Netherlands, Belgium
and Luxembourg in London in
1944. The Benelux Treaty effec-
tively removed trade barriers be-
tween the three countries and is
often considered a model for the
recent European Union elimin-
ation of borders between mem
ber states. Both Belgium and
Luxembourg will also be issuing
commemorative coins worth 250
Franks.
Rabobank continues to domi-
nate the domestic residential
mortgage market. Recent figures
show its mortgages are still the
most popular and competitive in
the Netherlands, with the ING
Group holding second place in
the rankings.
The authoritative financial
magazine Euromoney has voted
Rabobank The Best Bank in the
Netherlands.