of Rabobank International's total lending. The bulk of these retail loans were issued in Australia
and New Zealand, where the portfolio grew by 8%, reaching EUR 14.9 (13.8) billion.The Americas
portfolio was up 15%, rising to EUR 11.8 (10.3) billion. Rabobank is now the leading food and
agri bank in Australia and New Zealand, and a market survey by J.D. Power and Associates
crowned us the best retail bank in California.The survey was conducted in 2011 among 52,000
local retail clients. Rabobank is increasingly gaining a foothold in Brazil, a promising growth
market. We issued more loans to large, mostly exporting, farming businesses. Retail loans at
Poland's Bank BGZ increased by 8% to EUR 5.4 (5.0) billion. Rabobank has a 60% equity interest
in this Polish bank, which managed to further expand its branch network in 2011. In 2011, the
Polish State, which is a co-shareholder in Bank BGZ, floated a number of its shares. As a result,
15% of the shares in Bank BGZ are now being traded on the Polish stock exchange.
ACCBank's retail portfolio stood at EUR 3.7 (4.2) billion. Many Irish customers were suffering the
consequences of the poor economy in 2011Additional provisions had to be formed as a
result. Although the Irish government seems to be taking the right measures, bad debt costs
are expected to remain high in this country over the next few years.
Increase in savings deposits at Direct Banking and new online bank in Poland
Rabobank has five foreign online banks. After the establishment of Rabobank.be in 2002,
similar initiatives were undertaken in three other countries. Our online banks go by the name
of RaboDirect in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. These online banks saw a strong increase
in their savings deposits by private individuals in 2011The foreign online banks contributed
EUR 16.4 (11.6) billion in savings deposits in total at year-end 2011. The total number of Direct
Banking customers was up 30% in 2011rising to 472,000. The savings deposits are used to
fund the international rural and retail loans, and the loans issued by other divisions of
Rabobank Group. The bulk of the savings deposits originate from the Belgian online bank,
which is the oldest. Nine years after Rabobank.be opened its virtual doors, the bank broke the
EUR 5 billion mark. The success of online banking is due to a combination of banking security
at Rabobank and the no-nonsense business proposition. Customers especially appreciate the
transparency of our terms and conditions.
Inspired by the success of the other four online banks, Bank BGZ launched online savings bank
BGZ Optima in November 2011. In the remaining six weeks of 2011 after its launch, the first
37,000 customers had already been won. BGZ Optima is Poland's first online savings bank. With
the help of this online bank, Bank BGZ seeks to increase its share of the Polish market and gain
access to a new client base in the larger metropolitan areas.
Pillar 3: leveraging of specialist knowledge and products
Supplying quality products and services to Dutch and foreign food and agri clients requires
professional high-grade product platforms and infrastructures. Our clients'opportunities and
threats are becoming more and more complex, and it is therefore vital that we offer a wide
range of solutions. The specialist activities of Global Financial Markets (GFM) and Professional
Products (PP) form pillar 3. Trade Commodity Finance (TCF), a division of PP, has the mission
to be one of the best commodity banks. This has resulted in various awards in 2011, including
that of'Best Confirming Bank in Latin America Caribbean' presented by the International
Finance Corporation and that of'Best Soft Commodities Bank 2011awarded by Euromoney, a
business and investment magazine. The teamwork with Food Agribusiness Research
Advisory, and Mergers Acquisitions also contributed to winning these accolades.
TCF is seeing steady growth in facilities, which comes hand in hand with high-quality
developments in the portfolio. TCF arranges financing structures for customers throughout
the value chain in the food and agri, energy and metal sectors. In addition, it offers assistance
to financial institutions in emerging economies by setting up clients with Rabobank trade
finance products. Global Client Solutions (GCS) helps GFM and corporate clients in arranging
complex and unique financing structures. In 2011, GCS successfully reorganised the Dutch
division so as to create an even greater focus on Rabobank's key accounts; the non-core
portfolio was slimmed down substantially in the process.
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Annual Report 2011 Rabobank Group