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Last update : May 2010
Merkur is a co-operative bank, based on the ideas of conscious handling of money on criteria that include environmental, social and ethical aspects in addition to the financial considerations.
Background
The first steps towards the founding of Merkur were taken
in 1982 with the forming of a credit union. In 1985 Merkur merged with
another independent initiative to form the Co-op Bank, and received a
banking license. Merkur opened its first office in 1985 in Aalborg. In 1992
Merkur opened a branch in Copenhagen which later became head. In 1999
another branch opened in Aarhus and finally in 2007 the last branch so far
opened in Odense. Merkur is now present in the 4 major cities of Denmark.
In addition Merkur has limited activities in Finland and in North Germany,
in cooperation with Trion Geldberatungs-Genossenschaft.
Structure
About a fourth of the clientele are shareholders. The
Board of Directors is composed of 6 members elected by shareholders and 3
members elected by the staff. The day to day management consists of two
executive managers, Lars Pehrson, CEO, and Asbjorn Andersen, CFO plus a
group of 4 branch managers.
Shares are denominated in EUR as well as DKK and two types of shares are
available: A-Shares without any dividend and B-shares with an annual value
adjustment in accordance with the financial results of Merkur. Shares are
issued open end, as a consequence of the cooperative structure.
Activities
Merkur grants credit to the following types of projects:
- Agriculture and Environment: organic farming, organically produced food, distribution of organic products, alternative and renewable energy, green technology.
- Education and culture: Independent schools, nurseries, adult education, study loans, cultural projects.
- Health Care and Social Responsibility: Institutions and houses for mentally deficient people, projects for disadvantaged people etc.
- Village communities: projects striving towards a wholeness in housing, energy, farming, social life etc..
- Fair trade financing with lending to co-operatives and other producers in the developing countries through order based pre financing credits. The funding base is a specific risk bearing deposit account.
- A new (2009) separate entity, Merkur Development Loans Ltd, grants loans to SME’s and cooperatives in developing countries, working with sustainable production and trade.
It is possible for depositors to target their deposits to one of the above mentioned groups of projects, or even to a specific project. The depositor may also make a donation by accepting a rate of interest lower than the market rate.
Co-operation with other INAISE members
- Merkur cooperates with the Scandinavian colleagues Cultura (Norway) and Ekobanken (Sweden), i.a. on financing of bigger projects in Norway and Sweden.
- Merkur cooperates with the Triodos Group in the investment field. Triodos international investment funds are sold in Denmark through Merkur. Triodos is also involved in the financing of a number of large Danish projects. .
- Merkur cooperates with GLS Bank, Germany, on financing of bigger Danish projects.
- Merkur is a co founder of Institute for Social Banking
Key Figures
In mio.Euro |
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
| Net interest incomes | 7.7 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 3.8 |
| Net interest and fee income | 9.1 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 4.8 |
| Total expenses | 7.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.7 |
| Provision for bad and doubtful debts | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Profit before Taxation | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Net Profit | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Total deposits | 157.3 | 118.0 | 103.3 | 86.8 | 77.4 |
| Total loans | 134.2 | 120.4 | 96.9 | 70.0 | 57.5 |
| Balance sheet total | 201.1 | 156.7 | 132.8 | 113.1 | 101.5 |
| Guarantees | 54.7 | 47.6 | 55.2 | 50.2 | 42.2 |
| Total net capital | 21.9 | 20.6 | 18.3 | 15.4 | 12.8 |
| Equity capital and subordinated capital | 25.9 | 24.3 | 18.8 | 15.8 | 13.2 |
| BIS ratio (%)=Total capital to total assets ratio - BIS= Bank for International Settlements | 15.4 | 17.5 | 12.1 | 12.8 | 13.0 |
| Number of customers | 15 945 | 13 696 | 11 976 | 11 026 | 10 490 |
| Number of shareholders | 3 020 | 2 829 | 2 558 | 2 370 | 2 118 |
| Number of deposit accounts | 25 399 | 21 550 | 17 956 | 16 087 | 14 693 |
| Number of staff | 58 | 50 | 42 | 41 | 38 |
