At the close of the second quarter which ended June 30, 2003, Desjardins Group achieved combined surplus earnings of $215 million, an increase of more than 41.5% over the $152 million recorded for the same period last year. This gain are attributed both to sustained growth in business volume in the co-operative sector and the performance of the insurance subsidiaries.

Desjardins Group is reporting combined surplus earnings before patronage allocations to members of $388 million for its first half, which ended June 30, 2003. These figures represent a gain of $44 million or 12.8% over the corresponding period for 2002. Return on equity also rose, reaching 13.5% as at June 30, 2003 compared to 13.0% for the corresponding period in 2002.

As at June 30, 2003, the overall assets for Desjardins Group including the caisses and federations of Ontario, Manitoba, and Acadia were $95.4 billion, up by 8.0% or $7.1 billion over last year.

The financial intermediation sector, mainly composed of the caisse network, the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, Caisse centrale Desjardins and the Fonds de sécurité Desjardins, reported surplus earnings before patronage allocations to members of $333 million for the first half of 2003, compared to $319 million the previous year, for an increase of $14 million.

Total revenues for the first six months of 2003 were $1,733 million, representing an increase of $137 million or 8.6% compared to the corresponding period last year. Net interest income rose $98 million to reach $1,350 million for an increase of 7.8%, a result of the combined effect of sustained growth in business volume and prudent, effective rate risk management. Other revenues increased by $39 million or 11.3% to reach $383 million.

The insurance, trust services and asset management recorded net consolidated earnings of
$78.6 million for the first half of 2003 ended June 30 (including results for Desjardins Securities for the first quarter), compared to $46.5 million in 2002. The return on equity rose to 13.7%, compared to 8.5% for the same period in 2002. The increase in net earnings reflects excellent growth in volume achieved by the insurance subsidiaries and improved investment performance.