Contents Foreword Management report Corporate governance
Consolidated Financial Statements
Company Financial Statements
Pillar 3
at 25.0%. The return on tier 1 capital - the net profit related to
the level of tier 1 capital at the beginning of the year - reached
5.8% (6.5%) compared to a target of 8%. This target was not met,
mainly because the impairment on Rabobank's stake in Achmea
lowered the operating profit before tax, and restructuring costs
and the additional provision for adopting the SME interest rate
derivatives recovery framework increased operating expenses.
Rabobank's credit ratings
During 2016 Rabobank's credit ratings remained unchanged by
all the rating agencies. Currently, Rabobank has been assigned
an 'A+' rating by S&P, 'Aa2' by Moody's, 'AA-' by Fitch and 'AA' by
DBRS. Rabobank has a large buffer of equity and subordinated
debt, offering protection to non-subordinated bond holders,
which is regarded as an important rating driver by all the
rating agencies.
Globally, Rabobank is listed among the top 10 largest
commercial banks (based on total balance sheet) with the
highest rating awarded by S&P, Moody's and Fitch. In Europe,
Rabobank is in the top three. The rating agencies view
Rabobank's new governance structure (effective since 1 January
2016) as a positive change because it allows the bank to reduce
both costs and inefficiencies while also increasing transparency.
All agencies view Rabobank's leading position in the Dutch
banking sector and in food agri internationally as important
rating drivers. Both occupy a central place in our Strategic
Framework 2016-2020. Other key elements in our strategy,
further balance sheet optimisation and increased earnings
capacity were taken into account in Moody's and S&P's recent
affirmation.
In 2016 the outlook remained 'Stable' with all rating agencies,
apart from Moody's, which revised the outlook from 'Stable'
to 'Negative' in November 2016. Moody's claims that the
affirmation of the credit ratings 'incorporates the expected
improvements resulting from the bank's ongoing restructuring
programme while the negative outlook reflects the execution
risks inherent to the transformation'.
Remaining a rock-solid bank is one of the cornerstones of
Rabobank's strategy, and improvements in creditworthiness
lead to higher ratings. This is desirable because higher ratings
enable Rabobank to attract funding under more favourable
conditions in the capital markets.
O Read more about Rabobank's credit ratings here.
Rabobank's sustainability ratings
Rabobank has a strong focus on sustainability as it is one of
our core values. We believe that our bank has a role to play in
contributing to sustainable development. We therefore execute
the SST programme. We receive external accreditation for our
sustainability efforts from two independent sustainability rating
agencies: Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Sustainalytics.
Dow Jones Sustainability Index Rating
2016
2015
2014
Ranking
7
5
12
Overall score
91
87
83
Sustainalytics
2016
2015
2014
Ranking
2 out of 396
11 out of422
40 out of 382
Overall ESG score
85
(industry leader)
80
(industry leader)
70
(outperformer)
We are proud of our strong increase in the performance which
we consider evidence of the effectiveness of the mentioned
SST programme, yet we will continue our efforts to improve
further.
25
Our output and impact: improving performance
