Better than the market. We achieved a new business volume of 28.1 billion euros. Although this is 10% below the previous year's figure, we were able to significantly increase our market share – by 3.5 percentage points to 34.7% of new savings.

After the good years of 2022 and 2023, a process of normalisation has set in for building society savings, which is also due to a certain saturation effect. After the industry wrote just under 100 billion euros in new business in 2023, it was just under 84 billion euros last year. Nevertheless, we at Schwäbisch Hall are satisfied – not least because we have increased our relative competitiveness.

One success factor is our sales model. We work very closely and in partnership with the cooperative banks and have a strong sales force. Another is our regional presence. Both the cooperative banks and our sales force are very well represented in the region. Our third success factor is the quality of the advice we provide to our sales partners. Customers still seek personal advice when making such important decisions as property financing.

Last year, the market recovered again with an increase of 20% compared to 2023. This means that the mortgage volume is almost back to the long-term average. As Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, we were able to maintain a new lending business volume of 13.6 billion euros in 2024, slightly above the previous year's level in a very competitive market. I would emphasise that Schwäbisch Hall focuses on profitable growth, and manages its home loan business not only according to volume but also according to income and risk.

Our new rate offer has helped. The new rate reflects the current interest rate landscape and has met with positive interest from customers and sales partners. The focus is on offers for pension savers, young people, construction financing customers, and owners who want to carry out energy-efficient renovation. With savings interest rates of up to 1.05%, the conditions have been significantly improved. We have also shortened the allotment periods in the savings phase so that customers can access their building society loan earlier. The loan interest rate in the new Schwäbisch Hall offer starts at an effective 1.95 per cent, which is still well below the current interest rate for annuity loans with a ten-year fixed interest rate.

Schwäbisch Hall has developed the FuchsEco rate variant, especially for upcoming energy modernisation projects. This option offers a savings period of just under seven years for standard savings. At the same time, there are further interest rate advantages in the order of 0.35% in the building society loan interest rate for energy-related modernisation.

In security and predictability. The majority of people want to live within their own four walls. Surveys repeatedly confirm this desire for property, even among young people. Once again – a very important prerequisite for achieving this is building up equity. Building society savings is a perfect instrument for this and is also subsidised by the state – even threefold. The interest rate trend also speaks in favour of a home loan and savings contract. In five to ten years, when the economy picks up again, the loan interest rates set now will be even more attractive than they already are today.

Our pre-tax profit according to IFRS is 64 million euros, compared to 20 million euros in the previous year. We are increasingly benefiting from the sustained higher level of interest rates, through higher interest income on the assets side and lower interest expenses on the liabilities side. As a result, the effects of the rise in interest rates are increasingly reflected in the results. Profit growth was also supported by a five per cent reduction in administrative expenses. Looking ahead to 2025, we expect a further improvement in earnings and a result in the triple-digit million range.

Baufinex brings together 525 product partners for digital mortgage financing, and made a huge leap of almost 60 per cent to a transaction volume of 13.2 billion euros in a rapidly growing platform market in 2024, making us the number two among German broker marketplaces and putting us in the lead.

Because of the ECB's expected interest rate policy, the most likely scenario is a sideways to slightly declining movement in construction interest rates - probably in a corridor between 3.0 and 3.5 percent by the end of 2025, according to our forecast. It should be noted that interest rate hikes by the ECB do not have a one-to-one effect on mortgage rates.

After the boom years of 2022 and 2023, we expect the market to stabilise at the level of 2024 – i.e. with new business of between 80 and 90 billion euros. By way of comparison, in a home loan and savings year before the interest rate turnaround, such as 2021, the home loan and savings sum totalled just under 80 billion euros. We expect new business this year to be roughly on a par with the previous year. The construction financing business is likely to increase by five per cent overall, which would bring the market back to the long-term average of between 190 and 230 billion euros. We expect to participate more strongly in the upturn in mortgage lending this year.

I wouldn't put it that way. After all, the market is still characterised by a wait and see attitude. Due to unclear legislation, volatile subsidy landscapes, and continued high construction costs, the recovery is progressing more slowly than hoped.

We expect financing requirements to increase in 2025 and 2026 because the gap between housing demand and construction output has widened significantly in the last two years. In addition, the energy-efficient refurbishment of existing buildings, the financing volume of which we estimate at around 80 billion euros per year, remains an important task.

Today, our customers use two-thirds of their home loan savings for the refurbishment, renovation and modernisation of their property. Building society savers renovate more often than people without a building society account. The amount of financing for energy-related refurbishment measures fits well into a home loan and savings contract. The advantage of building society savings is that the usual small loan surcharges do not apply. In addition, a streamlined process without major formalities such as an entry in the land register is an advantage. As a rule, a standard home loan and savings contract covers the majority of the investment sums typically required for energy-efficient refurbishment.

There is also a high level of uncertainty among property owners in the renovation sector due to politics. After the Ampel coalition ended and the federal budget was not passed, people are wondering what will happen to regulations such as the Heating Act. Will there still be enough funding for new builds and refurbishments in 2025? What specific options do I have with my property?

As a result, customers are looking for guidance and advice on modernising their property – both in terms of financing and networking with tradespeople or about suitable subsidies. We support our customers with special offers and tools, for which we have trained more than 2,000 advisors in our sales force and others in the banks as modernisation and subsidy advisors.

That it tackles the problems with courage and expertise. The development of the housing market is a problem, and is socially explosive. Firstly, we need to get construction costs under control and build better instead of more and more expensively. To reverse the trend, building regulations must be reduced, building codes standardised across federal states, and ancillary costs lowered. With rents peaking at between 20 and 25 euros, we need to realise just how much social dynamite this issue harbours. To put it bluntly: The place is on fire!

We need to create reliable framework conditions and thus stabilise the demand side, both for buying or building and for renovation. The handling of the Heating Act, for example, or the cancellation of subsidies at short notice, is leading to restraint among property owners and buyers. A major obstacle is also the lack of equity capital for the purchase of residential property for broad sections of the population. It is therefore necessary to make the tried and tested subsidy instruments for building up equity capital, the housing construction premium and employee savings allowance, more attractive.

The climate protection targets for the building sector are in danger of being missed. A package of measures is needed that focuses on reducing CO2 emissions instead of end energy efficiency, qualified advice, and sufficient capacity in the construction industry.

Private home ownership should be expanded as part of subsidised pension provision. The subsidised home ownership pension must be further developed from the customer and provider perspective.