OREANDA-NEWS. July 03, 2009. Association of Latvian Commercial Banks (ALCB) has released the official report on financial indicators of local banks. According to the disclosed data, Rietumu Bank continues to maintain its position as the Latvian finance industry leader by a number of indicators, reported the press-centre of Rietumu Bank.

Since autumn 2008, when some Latvian banks faced problems, the ALCB statistics has become incomplete, lacking such significant indicators as profit, equity and reserves calculated on monthly basis. During this time, Rietumu Bank regularly published its monthly financial results.

According to ALCB data as of 31.03.2009, Rietumu Bank’s profit for the first quarter topped LVL 5 million, which is the best profit indicator among the Latvian banks – it accounts for around 33% of Latvia’s (!) banking industry profits in total. At the same time, only 15 banks out of 27 ended the 1st quarter without losses, which, in turn, accounted for EUR 83.5 million.

Rietumu Bank firmly occupies the 4th place in the country by equity capital – the indicator of bank stability, while equity-to-loans ratio of the Bank is one of the highest in the Latvian banking sector.
 
Given that profit is an absolute effectiveness indicator, return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) are quality indicators. As of the 1st quarter of 2009, Rietumu Bank’s ROA and ROE were the best in the industry (accounting for 1.77% and 14.76%, respectively).
 
ALCB also provided data on the banking sector for the first five months of 2009, including such indicators as assets, loans and deposits.

Rietumu Bank’s loan portfolio remains conservative and accounts for around 50% of total assets, whereas in top three banks the indicator is considerably higher – from 77% to 92%.

The ALCB released data confirm that Rietumu Bank’s financial standing remains one the best in the Latvian banking industry, while our resources allow us not only to cope with the crisis, but also to expand and develop, to implement new projects and to make long-term decisions.

Rietumu Bank’s financial results indicate that the Bank implements appropriate risk management policy and collaborates with its customers and partners efficiently. We are grateful to all our customers for their trust and cooperation. Rietumu Bank will continue to publish its balance sheet data as well as significant information about the Latvian and regional banking system on a regular basis.