Hamburg-based Berenberg Bank, Germany’s oldest private bank, reported an increase in net profits and assets under management for the first half of this year. Compared with the same period last year, net profits increased from €29 million ($36.7 million) to €32.9 million.

The results for the first half of 2010 build on the firm’s record-breaking net profit from the previous year, which saw annual net profits of €65.1 million, up 38 per cent compared to 2008.

“Despite the current climate, which is difficult for banks, our focus on providing services for our clients and our low-risk business policy enabled us to generate an excellent result,” said Dr Hans-Walter Peters, spokesman for the managing partners of Berenberg Bank.

Net profits at the owner-managed bank were €32.9 million, almost €4 million above the figure for the same period of the previous year.

The group’s core capital ratio rose from 13.1 per cent at the beginning of the year to 13.5 per cent by the end of May.

Assets under management increased by €1.9 billion for the first six months of 2010, rising faster than for the full year of 2009, when growth totalled €1.6 billion. As of 30 June 2010, Berenberg had assets of €23.8 billion on its books.