Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank AG: preliminary figures for the first half of 2012

Hamburg, 6th August 2012 - Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank AG (WKN 547930), a German investment bank with over 17 years' experience on the market and an exclusive focus on asset management with managed futures and capital markets brokerage, has presented its initial, unaudited results for the first six months of 2012.

The period was shaped by reorganization and cost savings up to 25 % in all fields of business as a reaction on the volatile market conditions. The development of results was marked by outflows due to the industry's decline in demand for managed futures once again and continued uncertainty in financial markets.

The development of results in the first half of 2012 resulted in an EBITDA of EUR 380 thousand, even as an EBITDA of EUR 451 thousand was generated in the reference period of the previous year. The net loss is at EUR -84 thousand (first half of 2011: EUR -19 thousand). The general and administrative expenses decreased from EUR 3.3 million to EUR 2.7 million. The net commission income of EUR 428 thousand is significantly below the comparable figure of EUR 906 thousand, while the net income from financial transactions (trading portfolio) up to a value of EUR 2.6 million merely implicates a reduction of EUR 36 thousand. The net interest income decreased by EUR 27 thousand in comparison with the first half of the previous year.

Varengold successfully executed a capital increase in May 2012 by placing a total of 133,100 shares with an international financial investor (UHNWI) from the United Arab Emirates that resulted in an influx of funds in the gross amount of EUR 5,503,685. Subsequently the degrees of liquidity have improved with an equity ratio of 91.3 % (first half of 2011: 88.1 %).

The board is expecting medium-dated improvements of results in the light of developments already apparent. It is as yet too early to make a detailed prognosis which would allow a comparison with market expectations.

Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank AG plans to publish its half-yearly report in September 2012 on the company homepage www.varengold.de.

Founded in 1995, Varengold was the first German Investment Bank to focus exclusively on Managed Futures, Hedge Funds and Alternative Investments.
It currently enjoys an outstanding reputation among other banks, funds, and private investors. To this day it remains the only German Investment bank to specialise exclusively in Managed Futures for mid-sized institutional and private investors.

As a pioneer in the field, Varengold was the first German Financial Institution to develop a Fund of Hedge Funds and established the first Managed Futures platform in Europe, providing investors with direct access to Managed Futures-Managers.

In its early years the bank focused on the development of "In-House" Managed Futures strategies. It now uses this expertise to act predominantly as a Fund of Funds manager, focusing on the assessment and selection of external managed futures managers from a worldwide network.

The bank has its Headquarters in Hamburg (Germany) and a service support office in Dubai (UAE).

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This release was published on openPR.