• Operating result up 37% in 2005

• All areas improved year-on-year

• New Real Estate Structured Finance and Savings Bank departments formed

• Strong start to 2006

Frankfurt am Main, 23 May 2006 – Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank (WIB) closed fiscal year 2005 with net income after taxes of €26.3 million (previous year: €-135.7 million), while the figure for the Group rose to €58.9 million (previous year: €-95.4 million).

WIB’s operating result improved by 37% to €67.5 million (previous year: €49.2 million). The operating result after risk provisions reflected a significantly improved risk situation following the risk adjustments performed in 2004, rising to €40.1 million (previous year: €-132.4 million). This includes one-time factors from capital market transactions. After adjustment for these, the result would be €9.6 million.

 “WIB is back in the black in 2005 following the far-reaching risk adjustments performed last year. Together with WestLB AG and in association with the savings banks, we laid the foundations for a sustained increase in earnings last year. The concentration on our core competencies raises our profile as a centre of competence within the WestLB Group”, emphasised Hubert Beckmann, Chairman of the Managing Board of WIB, on the occasion of the annual earnings conference.

The increase in the result was due in particular to net interest income, which rose by around 16% to €141.8 million (previous year: €122.5 million). This improvement resulted from an increase in new business and capital market transactions. At €-4.1 million, net commission income including net income on financial operations was down year-on-year (previous year: €1.1 million). This decline was due in particular to higher brokerage commission resulting from increased new business in private residential financing. Administrative expenses were cut by €6.3 million to €73.1 million thanks to a €10.1 million drop in non-staff expenses to €33.5 million. These systematic cost savings also had a positive effect on the cost-income ratio, which improved substantially from 61.8% to 51.9%. The Bank’s total assets rose by €1.6 billion year-on-year to €22.9 billion, while the figure for the Group climbed to €23.1 billion (previous year: €21.5 billion). The number of people employed by the Bank increased to 504 (previous year: 460). At Group level, the corresponding figure declined by 189 to 561, mainly due to the sale of the majority interest in EPM Assetis.

Strong growth in new business
At €5.7 billion, WIB recorded the highest figure for total loan commitments in its history to date (previous year: €3.5 billion). The majority of loans are accounted for by commercial customers abroad (47%), especially in the USA, France and the UK/Ireland. The Bank also increased its market share in other target countries such as Spain/Portugal, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Central Europe. In total, the Bank has committed to loans in the amount of €2.7 billion to international commercial real estate customers (+69%, previous year: €1.6 billion). The Bank’s domestic business also performed well, rising from €1.3 billion to €2.1 billion despite the difficult situation on the German real estate market. The Private Residential Finance department increased the volume of its loan commitments by 42% to €0.9 billion (previous year: €0.7 billion). The majority of these loans were brokered by partners. Using ImmoBank direct, customers can conclude standardised mortgage finance via the Internet and by telephone.

”All areas of WIB have improved on their prior-year results. We have gained additional market share abroad, but have also lifted our domestic business substantially. We are expanding our international activities and shall be opening a representative office in Warsaw in the second half of 2006. In addition, we are strengthening our activities in Japan and selected Asia-Pacific markets together with WestLB. A further focus will be the expansion of our product range, and in particular a stronger capital markets product offering”, said Claus-Jürgen Cohausz, a member of the Managing Board of WIB since 1 January 2006.

Leveraging market opportunities together: new Savings Banks department
WIB has set up a new department to intensify its savings banks/middle market business. By providing support and processing in a single unit, this enables active, focused support for savings banks and their customers. As a partner in the savings bank group, WIB provides these banks with a wide range of services for commercial and private real estate finance. The offering ranges from syndicated loans, investments in real estate joint ventures and public private partnerships, and real estate structured finance offerings to the brokerage of private construction finance. In addition, WIB is piloting a pooled Pfandbrief issue based on the sale of receivables for four savings banks from WestLB AG’s two North Rhine-Westphalia association regions.

New Real Estate Structured Finance department:
bundling of capital markets business
WIB has set up the Real Estate Structured Finance department to provide real estate investors with direct access to the capital markets. This department serves as an interface to the capital markets and for the support of large, complex real estate financing deals and transactions involving the capital markets. Reflecting the increasing interest on the part of the international capital markets in the real estate market and in real estate as an asset class, this new department forms a necessary bridge for customers between real estate know-how and capital markets expertise.

Strong start to 2006
WIB got off to a strong start in 2006. Net interest income rose in the first quarter to €34.3 million, up 7.9% on the prior-year figure adjusted for one-time factors. Net commission income reflects the increase in brokerage commissions in the private construction finance business. Although at €-0.9 million, the figure is down on that for the prior-year (€0.5 million), the Private Customers department substantially increased its new business. After deduction of administrative expenses of €17.2 million (previous year: €17.1 million) and after adjustment for other income of €0.2 million (previous year: €0.2 million), the operating result amounted to €16.4 million, up 6.5% year-on-year (previous year: €15.4 million). The increase in the domestic real estate business is extremely encouraging. Commercial finance deals rose in the first three months of the current year to €655 million, up from €450 million in the prior-year quarter (+ 45.6%). Private residential construction finance rose particularly sharply, more than doubling to €352 million (previous year: €167 million). WIB’s international business rose by 9.3% to €866 million.

“We are extremely satisfied with our 2006 performance to date. The expansion of our domestic and international sales activities and the intensification of our customer support measures are paying off”, underscored Hubert Beckmann.

WIB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WestLB and the specialist for all real estate finance and transactions within the WestLB Group. In addition to its locations in Mainz (headquarters) and Münster, it has branches in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Mannheim (Germany) and London, as well as representative offices in Madrid, New York, Paris and, in future, Warsaw.

The 2005 Annual Report can be downloaded.

Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank
Press and Public Relations
Große Bleiche 54
55116 Mainz
Germany

presse@westimmobank.com

Telefon: + 49 6131 9280 -7222/7385
Telefax: + 49 6131 9280 - 7209