Deposits were €26.6 billion euro as of June 30, the state savings bank said in its half-yearly earnings report on Monday. That figure is up 19.1% from the first half of 2011. Loans and credit lines totalled more than 26 million euro during the first six months of the year, an increase of 7.4% over the January to June 2011 period.

BCEE also added 166,000 new online-only banking customers, which it said makes it the Grand Duchy’s leader in electronic banking.

The bank reported that the sale of banking products rose 9.2%, to €306.9 million. That in turn helped bring net income to €140.6 million, a rise of 5.9% over the first half of 2011.

BCEE’s “Tier 1” capital reserves increased from 15.2 to 16.2%, the bank said. Both figures are well above international banking norms which call for buffers of 10.5%. The increase is likely an effort to improve market confidence in the bank.

In June Moody’s Investors Service lowered its long term rating on BCEE from top notch AAA to AA1, the second score on its 21 level scale, citing concerns that the euro zone crisis could depress the value of assets in its loan and investment portfolios. Rival ratings agency S&P has kept its second-rank AA+ rating on the BCEE.

Lower ratings typically lead to increased borrowing costs in the global capital markets.

Nonetheless, industry publication Global Finance will once again named BCEE as one the world’s top ten “safest banks” in its September 1 issue. The bank has been featured at the top of the twice-annual rankings for several years running.