Baltic, Banks, Financial Services, Loan

The increase was mainly driven by higher income in Estonia.

"We see a continuously robust growth in Estonian economy reflected both in private and corporate lending demand. I would like to stress the growth of our small and medium-sized enterprises lending portfolios, which have increased 6 and 5%, respectively, showing that also smaller companies find growth opportunities," Robert Kitt, manager of Swedbank Estonia, said in a press release.

"One of the activities that stands out for Swedbank is our goal to start hiring more people outside Tallinn. The 21st century is all about flexible working environments and remote work possibilities, so we aim to offer more career possibilities in Swedbank outside of our capital. In 2017 we will have 50 added workplaces in Tartu and 50 in other places all over Estonia," Kitt said.

Lending volumes increased by 4% year over year and were mainly driven by strong growth in mortgages, consumer loans and leasing. Deposit volumes grew by 5% and were largely driven by household deposits.

There were no credit impairments in 2017, while credit impairments amounted to 3.5 million euros in 2016.

Net interest income decreased by 0.5%. The decrease was mainly due to lower market rates while higher lending volumes supported the result. Net commission income increased by 2% and the increase was due to higher income from asset management and payment processing. Total expenses increased by 2%. The main effect comes from higher staff costs. Expenses for premises decreased.

During the second quarter Swedbank continued to improve the functionality of its digital channels. For corporate customers the bank further developed the Swedbank Gateway service to make it easier for small businesses to link their enterprise system with their bank account. For private customers the bank in June added push notifications in the mobile bank environment.

Smart ID, which was launched in the previous quarter, has performed strongly. There are currently more than 39 thousand Smart ID users in Estonia, who logged in 1.1 million times during the second quarter. With Smart ID, customers can identify themselves, sign contracts and confirm payments. This new tool is helpful in using Swedbank's mobile bank – the amount of active users of Swedbank's mobile bank grew to 170,000 as at the end of the second quarter.

According to an independent survey carried out by Kantar Emor in May, Swedbank ranks among the ten most popular brands in all three Baltic countries, ranking third in Estonia.

Charlotte Elsnitz, coming from the position of CFO for Swedbank's business area Baltic Banking, on June 30 was appointed the head of Baltic Banking and member of the Group Executive Committee.

During the first half of this year, Swedbank made EUR 52 million in profit in Latvia, which is about as much as a year ago, LETA was told at the bank.

“Positive trends in the economy have also been influencing lending growth, and the growing demand from households and small businesses has been especially notable during the past quarter. This year, 2,150 Latvian enterprises have developed their business with the help of Swedbank financing, and 2,100 families have bought new housing. We are also pleased that people in Latvia are very active users of digital solutions, for instance, Latvia leads in the Baltics by the number of Smart-ID users, and the response to the quick messages that have recently been launched on Swedbank’s mobile app has been great,” said Swedbank Latvia CEO Reinis Rubenis.

Over the past year, Swedbank increased lending by 1%, mostly thanks to the growing leasing and consumer loan portfolios. Deposits at Swedbank have also grown by 1%, with personal deposits showing growth and corporate deposits declining.

During the first half of this year, the bank reduced its provisions for bad loans by EUR 2.7 million (EUR 1.7 million in the first half of 2017), while net interest income rose 1% as lending picked up.

Net income from commissions grew by 3% as clients used the bank’s regular services more actively. At the same time, the bank’s total expenditure also rose by 3% as regulation-related costs increased.

Swedbank in the largest bank in Latvia by assets.

Swedbank , one of Lithuania's largest commercial banks, netted 56 million euros in net profit in the first six months of 2017, up by 21%, from 46 million euros, year-on-year.

"The financial results of the first six months reflect sustainable economic growth in the country. Faster increase of wages, productivity and investment had an effect on stable future outlooks of the population. Consumption and borrowing by households continues rising, borrowing by small-sized enterprises was more active. In addition to the growing loan portfolio, residents and companies have accumulated record-sized financial reserves, which demonstrate a balanced financial situation of businesses and households," Dovile Grigiene, CEO of Swedbank Lithuania, said in a press release.

Swedbank's revenue grew by 14% to 105 million euros in January-June year-on-year. Its net interest income rose by 11.8% to 57 million euros and net commission income was up by 17.6% to 40 million euros. The loan portfolio expanded by 3% (EUR 127 mln) to 4.7 billion euros.

The bank's spending increased by 9% to 44 million euros in the first six months of 2017 year-on-year, while the ratio of spending and income was 42% (43 pct in the same period last year).

Total deposits increased by 6% to 6 billion euros. The loan-to-deposit ratio remained at 77%, down from 80% year-on-year.