Mariehamn, 2015-01-07 11:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --


Bank of Åland Plc
Stock exchange release
January 7, 2015, 12.00





The Bank of Åland (Ålandsbanken) and Ålandsbanken Asset Management have reached
an agreement to merge during the first half of 2015. The boards of both
companies approved the merger plan on January 7, 2015. 

Ålandsbanken Asset Management, with operations in Finland, is a subsidiary of
the Bank of Åland in which 30 per cent of ownership is held by employees of the
company. Ålandsbanken Asset Management was founded in 2000 and reported a net
operating profit of EUR 3.9 M in the first nine months of 2014. The company has
28 employees and manages about EUR 1.6 billion of the Group’s total managed
assets of approximately EUR 4.8 billion. 

Last autumn, the Bank of Åland started a project aimed at coordinating the
Bank’s asset management units in Finland and Sweden. A well-implemented
coordination will unify and strengthen the Bank’s range of services in all
business areas. Certain overlapping units can also be phased out. Stefan
Gothenby has been appointed Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Bank of
Åland. Jonny Sundström, Ålandsbanken Asset Management’s current CIO and Head of
Fixed Income, has been appointed as Head of Fixed Income at the Bank. Albert
Haeggström has been appointed as the Bank’s Head of Equities. 

In the Finnish Mainland business area, the customer side of Ålandsbanken Asset
Management is being coordinated with Private Banking in Helsinki. Christian
Wetterstrand, currently Managing Director of Ålandsbanken Asset Management is
being appointed as Head of the newly coordinated Private Banking unit. Maria
Bernas-Hilli, General Manager, is being appointed as Assistant Head of the
unit. 

As consideration for the merger, the minority shareholders of Ålandsbanken
Asset Management will receive 762,912 newly issued Series B shares in the Bank
of Åland plus a cash portion equivalent to 10 per cent of the value of the
newly issued shares. These shares will entitle their holders to 5 per cent
ownership in the Bank of Åland and 0.55 per cent of voting power. 

The merger will have no impact on the 2014 income statement or balance sheet,
yet despite dilution it is expected to boost the Bank of Åland Group’s earnings
per share and return on equity after taxes (ROE) during 2015. Its impact on the
Bank’s core Tier 1 capital will be marginal. 

If the merger had been implemented during 2014 the Group’s pro forma earnings –
calculated on the basis of January-September 2014 earnings and the Group’s
financial position on September 30, 2014 and without taking into account any
synergies – would have climbed from EUR 0.73 to EUR 0.75 per share despite
dilution, and return on equity after taxes (ROE) would have improved by about
0.7 percentage points from 7.6 to 8.3 per cent. Equity capital per share would
have decreased from EUR 13.14 to EUR 12.44. The core Tier 1 capital ratio would
have been adversely affected only marginally, remaining at an unchanged 11.1
per cent. 

The Bank of Åland will issue its forecast for 2015 in conjunction with
publication of its Year-end Report for 2014 on February 13, 2015. 

For further information, please contact:

Peter Wiklöf, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Bank of Åland Plc, tel
+358 40 512 7505 
Anne-Maria Salonius, Director, Finnish Mainland Business Area, Bank of Åland
Plc, tel +358 40 733 1106 
Christian Wetterstrand, Managing Director, Ålandsbanken Asset Management Ab,
tel +358 40 544 2301

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