Euronext Amsterdam and Rabobank introduce money
market instruments listing
Increase in operating profit
Gilde Investment Management
Gilde Investment Management provides
enterprises with venture capital, which is
invested by specialised investment funds
(including Gilde IT, Gilde Buy Out and Gilde
Participations) in which third parties also
participate.The shares of these enterprises
are sold in due course and the investments
are turned into cash. On account of changes
in the fund's management, the shareholders
of Gilde IT fund II decided in 2003 that only
subsequent investments in existing participa
tions were allowed. At year-end 2003, invest
ments of Gilde Investment Management
totalled EUR 611 million. Because market
conditions showed a slight recovery in 2003,
a modest profit was achieved.
38 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2003
With the aid of RaboDealAssist, which was developed by Group Treasury,
small and medium-sized businesses can purchase currency and interest
derivatives simply via the Internet, enabling them to hedge their currency
and interest rate exposures. Regional treasury teams provide clients with
up-to-date information on treasury products and currency and interest
rate risk management.The combination of RaboDealAssist and the
continuous information from the regional treasury teams resulted in a
significant increase in the volume of derivatives.
As part of its liquidity management for Rabobank Group, Group Treasury
paid a great deal of attention during the past year to the securitisation
of short-term Rabobank notes.Partly as a result of that activity, the
Amsterdam financial centre enjoyed a double first in 2003. Euronext
created the possibility to list short-term debt securities - Certificates of
Deposit (CDs) of financial institutions and Commercial Paper (CPs) of
enterprises - and Rabobank was the first issuing body to make use of
this new possibility. In this connection, both parties signed the listing
agreement of Rabobank Nederland's 'Euro 25,000,000,000 Euro
Commercial Paper and Certificate of Deposit Programme'. The possibility
to list money market instruments was developed jointly by Euronext
Amsterdam and Group Treasury.
Operating profit of the wholesale banking business increased in 2003
by 10% to EUR 987 million. Income grew by 8%. Operating expenses
increased by 6%. These higher costs are mainly attributable to the
integration of units acquired from Rabobank International. Group
Treasury was unable to benefit sufficiently from the market conditions.
Its profit fell, despite lower expenses.
www.rabobank.com,www.gilde.nl and www.rabosecurities.com
Queen's Speech:on the third
Tuesday in September,
»- Prime Minister Balkenende's
<D
second government presented a
record amount of EUR 17 billion
Q.
in budget cuts.
