Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Loan

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 23:53

SEB earns profits in Baltics in Q3

BC, Riga, 23.10.2014.Print version
SEB Group in Latvia concluded the first three quarters with a net profit in the amount of EUR 23.7 million, SEB banka reports. Over the three quarters of the year 2014 by AB SEB bankas is LTL 216.5 million (EUR 62.7 million) and by AB SEB bankas Group is LTL 219.5 million (EUR 63.6 million) and SEB's Eesti units ended the third quarter of 2014 with a 15.6 million euros profit, writes LETA.

The income of SEB Group in Latvia reached EUR 75.2 million, which is 12% less than in the first three quarters of 2013. The costs in comparison with the first nine months of 2013 increased by 1%, reaching EUR 38.1 million, informs Nozare.lv.

 

Profit before provisions reached EUR 37.1 million, which is 22% less than in the first three quarters of 2013. The bank made provisions in the amount of EUR 10.7 million in the first nine months of 2014 – 58% less than in the respective period of 2013.

 

In comparison with the respective period of 2013, the amount of provisions made this year reduced more than twice due to a reduction of the amount of late payments and higher quality of the bank's credit portfolio.

 

Income from main activities after taxes and provisions in the first nine months of 2014 reached EUR 23.7 million – 32% more than in the respective period of 2013.


The total amount of deposits in SEB banka on September 30, 2014 was EUR 2.08 billion, or 2% less than at the end of the second quarter.

 

The total credit portfolio at the end of the third quarter of 2014 was EUR 2.68 billion – the same as at the end of the second quarter.

 

The amount of new loans in the first nine months of 2014 at SEB banka reached EUR 451 million – 23% less than a year ago.

 

Since the beginning of this year, SEB banka has registered a total of 23,000 new clients.

 

According to preliminary data, unaudited net profit earned over the three quarters of the year 2014 by AB SEB bankas is LTL 216.5 million (EUR 62.7 million) and by AB SEB bankas Group is LTL 219.5 million (EUR 63.6 million), the bank said in a report.

 

Over the three quarters of the year 2013, unaudited net profit earned by AB SEB bankas was LTL 169.6 million (EUR 49.1 million) and by AB SEB bankas Group – LTL 167.5 million (EUR 48.5 million), writes LETA/ELTA.

 

"Irrespective of continuing geopolitical challenges, the economy of Lithuania is demonstrating moderate growth. The local market continues to develop, the average wage is growing and unemployment rate is dropping, and the above factors form continuous but slowly rising demand for the financial services. Within the period of three quarters of the current year, the performance of the SEB Bank Group in Lithuania was successful – its assets, deposit portfolio continued to increase, income and net profit was growing, the cost to income ratio has improved. Such results were achieved when more customers of the bank started to proactively use the banking services, and also due to our continuous efforts to improve operational efficiency," said President of SEB Bankas in Lithuania Raimondas Kvedaras.

 

Geopolitical unrest in the region during the recent months made corrections in the development plans of the majority of enterprises in the exports markets and resulted in lower demand of companies for the new sources of financing. The above factors determined more moderate growth of the new loans issued by the bank – within the 9-month period of the year 2014, SEB Bank has issued the new loans worth LTL 3.7 billion (EUR 1.07 billion), or by 1% more as compared with the equivalent period of the year 2013.

 

On the other hand, such positive developments in the local market have stimulated higher demand of households for loans – during the three quarters of this year, the value of newly issued loans grew by 25% as compared with the relevant period of the year 2013, thus the geopolitical situation until today has not yet made any significant effect on behaviour of our customers.

 

SEB's Eesti units ended the third quarter of 2014 with a 15.6 million euros profit, at the same time last year, they earned 18 million euros, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

 

SEB Eesti operating income in the third quarter amounted to 33.3 million euros and operating expenses to 15.1 mln euros. Both figures are at the same level with the previous year.

 

The bank increased loan loss provisions in the third quarter of 2014 by 2.6 million euros (in the same period in 2013, the bank increased the provisions by 1.3 mln euros).

The nine-months profit totalled 55 million euros (previous year: 56.7 million euros).


SEB board chairman Riho Unt said that despite the large changes in the macro-economy, there is growth in consumer spending at the Estonian market. This is due to low inflation and strong wage pressures, but the latter's effect is not in any way consistent with the economic outlook, he emphasized.

 

"Once again we notice the fragility of the world economy and that corporate sentiment is becoming more cautious. In this climate, our customer centric focus creates earnings stability", says Annika Falkengren, SEB's President and CEO, commenting on the third quarter results.

 

"All divisions increased income and showed continued growth in the customer base with good cost control. Operating income and profit were higher than the second quarter, even though the summer months as usual were slower."

 

"Our increased cost and capital efficiency led to a return on equity for the quarter of 17.3%; 13.8% excluding a one-time capital gain. The Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio increased to 16.2%."

 

Operating income in the third quarter amounted to SEK 12.7bn. The income included a one-time positive effect from a sale of MasterCard shares in the amount of SEK 1.3bn. Excluding the effect, operating income would have been SEK 11.3bn, an increase of 10% compared to the same quarter 2013. Operating expenses increased by 1% to SEK 5.5bn. Operating profit in the quarter amounted to SEK 5.3bn (SEK 6.7bn including the one-time effect), which was up 16% compared to the third quarter 2013.

 

Asset quality remained high. Credit losses amounted to SEK 473m, corresponding to a net credit loss level of 13 basis points.

 

The liquidity coverage ratio was 122%, the core liquidity reserve amounted to SEK 613bn and the total liquid resources were SEK 840bn.






Search site