OREANDA-NEWS. February 14, 2011. SEB’s Estonian units ended the year with a profit of 49.1 million euros. This is compared to 2009, when SEB Estonia ended the year with a loss of 80 million euros. Operating revenue amounted to 124.2 million euros (133.7 million in 2009) and operating expenses to -66.2 million euros (-101.2 million in 2009), reported the press-centre of SEB Group.

The bank made provisions for loan losses of 9.1 million euros in 2010 (compared to 112.5 million euros in 2009).

Riho Unt, chairman of the management board of SEB Bank, comments on the results of SEB’s units in Estonia:

“2010 was SEB’s breakthrough year in Estonia. A lot of the decisions we’d made during the most difficult period paid off and we were well-prepared for the restoration of economic activity. The support we gave to clients who were facing repayment problems was effective, as can be seen in our proportion of bad loans, which was significantly lower than the market average – just 0.22% of our total loan portfolio. Plus clients have started noticing that SEB is setting itself apart on the banking market: in surveys SEB was voted the most customer-friendly bank in 2010, and the bank offering the highest level of customer satisfaction. We were the brand people liked most in the Estonian finance sector last year, too. All that and we got the highest marks of any company operating in the finance sector in 2010 from our own employees.

“The excellent results our units posted are without doubt related to effective cost-control measures, but our clients have become much more active as well. Since the second half of the year we’ve had loan projects worth more than 200 million euros on the go all the time in corporate banking. The volume of home loans we issued in 2010 grew by 24.7%. And our private and corporate deposits grew, too, compared to 2009 – by 12% and 8% respectively.”

More detailed information about the results can be found online at www.sebgroup.com/ir