The 1,101 German cooperative banks (Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken, Sparda banks, PSD banks and other cooperative specialized institutions) again achieved substantial year-on-year increases in income in 2012. Booming membership, a buoyant lending business, and a rallying of securities prices resulted in a profit after taxes of €2.2 billion, up by 3.9 percent compared with the previous year. Profit before taxes came to €7.4 billion. At the same time, combined total assets grew by €21 billion to €750 billion. "These are very good results, comparing favorably with the rest of the sector, and are proof positive of our cooperative business model. Our institutions have seized opportunities presented by the market in partnership with their 30 million or so customers," said Uwe Fröhlich, President of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raffeisenbanken (BVR) [National Association of German Cooperative Banks]. "Being a member of a cooperative bank has never been as popular as it is now," he added. Almost 350,000 new members joined during the reporting period, bringing the total to 17.3 million.
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