HCOB Ship Pfandbrief

We are delighted that our Ship Pfandbrief was so well received by investors. The Ship Pfandbrief was heavily oversubscribed and there was great interest in it, as this type of Pfandbrief is only issued very rarely. It underlines our strong position in ship financing and proves that investors recognize our expertise in this sector. With this issue, we have once again demonstrated our ability to obtain solid funding on the capital markets.The Ship Pfandbrief makes an important contribution to the diversification of our funding.

Overall, the differences are rather small. The German Pfandbrief Act provides for both asset classes to be used as collateral for Pfandbriefe. However, due to some special features of the ship financing business, certain regional requirements for the underlying ship assets are stipulated by the law, while at the same time a somewhat higher nominal over-collateralization is required for the Ship Pfandbrief. In addition, a differentiated, extremely conservative approach applies to the calculation of the mortgage lending value for ship loans.

The shipping markets recently had a very good phase in which many shipping companies achieved excellent results. The markets have now normalized again, but rates are still at an adequate level. Basically, we see the prospects of shipping markets as positive. Global trade continues to grow – albeit at a somewhat slower pace than a few years ago. Shipping ensures that goods are transported worldwide – and this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

We will continue our regular issuing activities over the course of the year with unsecured benchmark bonds – but we are not planning another Ship Pfandbrief this year.