Banks, Financial Services, Latvia, Loan

Due to thorough cost control (operating expenses amounted to EUR 10.3 million or 5% lower than in the first quarter 2014) and higher level of net commission income (amounting to EUR 3 million that is 9% higher than at the end of respective period in 2014) DNB group in Latvia succeeded to overcome the adverse effect of decreased interest rates.

Due to continuous efforts to apply balanced credit policy, DNB banka managed to keep loan loss provisions at a very low level amounting to EUR 277,000 in the first quarter of 2015 (EUR 773,000 in the respective period last year).

DNB group’s net deposit portfolio at the end of the first quarter 2015 was EUR 1.1 billion, which is 5% higher than at the end of the first quarter last year. The local funding ratio was at 71%, which is 8 percentage points higher than at the respective period of 2014.

The net loan portfolio of DNB group in Latvia composed EUR 1.6 billion at the end of March 2015. The newly issued loans in the first three months of 2015 have amounted to EUR 47.0 million that is 14% higher than in the first quarter of the last year. It has to be emphasized that the activity in mortgage lending is gradually increasing as well. The customers and, especially, young families appreciate also the offers of the subsidiary of DNB banka ''Salvus Ltd'' with more beneficial mortgage lending conditions – financing up to 90% and lower commission fee.

The gross portfolio of DNB Lizings, the subsidiary of DNB banka, reached EUR 127.7 million at the end of first quarter of 2015, which is 4% higher than at the respective period of 2014. 'DNB Lizings' has signed new deals at EUR 15.2 million in the first three months of 2015.

The assets of the second pillar pension plans managed by IPAS DNB Asset Management, the subsidiary of DNB banka, increased significantly (by EUR 14.2 million) during the first quarter of 2015. All second pillar pension plans managed by IPAS DNB Asset Management showed outstanding performance – DNB Conservative investment plan has earned 2.57% to its customers during the same period, DNB Balanced investment plan – 4.69% and DNB Active investment plan – 6.96%.

The financial stability ratios of DNB banka exceeded the regulatory requirements – the liquidity ratio of the bank reached the level of 38.7%. The capital adequacy ratio of DNB banka at the end of March 2015 reached 16.1%.

The shareholder of DNB banka in Latvia, the largest financial institution in Norway DNB, recorded profits of EUR 779 million in the first quarter of 2015, up EUR 125 million from the first quarter of 2014. The increase largely reflected exchange rate movements and a positive development in the bank’s basis swaps. Low impairment losses on loans also contributed to the strong performance.