Banks, Financial Services, Good for Business, Latvia

In the six months of this year SEB Banka granted more than 7,500 loans, worth EUR 313 mln in total, which was a 63% increase against the same period last year. Corporate loans accounted for EUR 243 mln or 78% of that amount, while EUR 70 mln were lent to individuals.

The bank's spokesman indicated that the first six months of 2016 had been very busy in terms of lending, as retail loans grew 2.5 times against the same period a year ago and lending to small and medium-sized businesses increased by 25%.

The second quarter of this year was also a very active period resulting in significant client activity. The number of new clients exceeded 10,200 in the first half of the year. More than 8,100 of these clients were individuals. "We have taken a number of measures to strengthen client relations in the segments of SMEs and large companies, as well as in leasing business, which has resulted in clients' strong interest in the financing of car purchases, said SEB Banka CEO Ieva Tetere, adding that this had helped SEB Lizings to become the leading car leasing provider.

The SEB Group's revenues in Latvia rose by 30% year-on-year to EUR 64.98 mln in the first half of 2016, largely on account of selling shares in VISA Europe.

The banking group's costs grew by 6% to EUR 26.2 mln.

In January-June 2016, SEB put aside EUR 1.9 mln worth of provisions, which was 63% less than a year ago. Deposits at SEB Banka rose by 6% against the end of June 2015 to EUR 2.1 billion at the end of June 2016.

The bank's loan portfolio contracted 1% from the end of June 2015 to EUR 2.5 billion at the end of the first half of this year. The loan portfolio, however, expanded by 1% against the end of 2015.

SEB Banka's capital and reserves stood at EUR 415.75 mln and its assets were worth EUR 3.4 billion at the end of June 2016.

At the end of 2015, SEB Banka was the fourth biggest bank in Latvia by assets.