Banks, Financial Services, Latvia, Loan, Markets and Companies, Woodwork

Vika Wood will use the loan and own funds to purchase an automated sawn timber sorting line. The investment in the new laser-based equipment will significantly improve efficiency of the sorting process.

With the help of the loan, Vika Wood will also build a new production building to house the automated sorting line which is to be put into operation by the end of this year.

"Well-timed investments in modern technologies will enable us to further improve production efficiency, to expand the range of products and to strengthen the company's position with a view to continuing business growth," said Haralds Kronbergs, CEO of Vika Wood.

SEB Banka's Board Member Ints Krasts said that Vika Wood would become the first Latvian company to use this type of automated sorting line and that the new equipment would boost the saw mill's productivity and competitiveness not only in Latvia but also in a broader region.

In 2017, Vika Wood generated EUR 58.657 million in turnover, which was by 1.7 percent less than in 2016, but its profit rose 80.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 5.346 million.

At the end of March this year, SEB Banka was the third largest bank in Latvia in terms of assets, according to the Latvian Association of Commercial Banks.