Aggregate financial strength and cohesiveness of the "Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Hessen-Thueringen" (SFHT), underpinned by a limited protection scheme Sound capitalization of the SFHT, based on good earnings retention of its member savings banks Strong market penetration of the savings banks in Hesse and Thuringia Stable retail deposit base of the savings banks Helaba's conservative underwriting standards and comfortable collateral positions Helaba's low sustainable profitability levels, limited earnings diversification, and reliance on wholesale funding, partly due to its role as wholesale central bank Relatively high and inflexible cost base of Helaba and the SFHT member savings banks Low revenue momentum of the SFHT and weaknesses in providing sophisticated products Lack of adequate incentives at SFHT to improve profitability Structurally higher loan loss provisions
