OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2011. Profit: EUR 11.2 million (EUR 1.7 million in Q1 2010)

Profit before loan impairment charges: EUR 8.4 million (EUR 9.4 million)

Loan impairment charges: EUR -2.8 million (EUR 7.7 million)

Cost/income ratio: 42.9% (39.8%)

Deposits: up EUR 74 million (5%)

Lending: down EUR 269 million (15%)

Loan/deposit ratio: 0.97 (1.2)

Customer base: 158,000

Bank branches: 17 (19)

Employees: 546 (551)

This interim report presents the financial results of the banking activities of the Danske Bank Group in Estonia. Sampo Pank has been a member of the Danske Bank Group since February 2007, reported the press-centre of Sampo Pank.

In addition to banking, Danske Bank operates in investment management (Danske Capital) and financial markets (Danske Markets Estonia) in Estonia.

Aivar Rehe, CEO of Sampo Pank, comments on the financial results for the first quarter of 2011 as follows:

“In the first quarter of 2011, the Estonian economy and banking industry adjusted to the adoption of the euro. The rapid adjustment to changes in the economic environment will continue over the year, with export growth dominating economic activity.

“Sampo Pank pursued two main objectives in its activities:

maintaining profitability

adhering to the Danske Bank Group’s principles of conservative lending and deposit growth

“We maintained a high level of efficiency in Q1, with a cost/income ratio of 42.9% (39.8% in Q1 2010).

“The pre-tax profit for the quarter was EUR 11.2 million, well above the result for the same period in 2010 (EUR 1.7 million).

“The bank maintained its cost base and conservative expense policy. Operating income in Q1 2011 totalled EUR 14.7 million (EUR 15.5 million), and operating expenses amounted to EUR 6.3 million (EUR 6.2 million).

“The Estonian economy is starting to recover from the recession, but unemployment is still very high. The economy faces a long restructuring period. The solvency of both companies and private individuals remained under pressure in Q1 2011.

“We continued to adhere to the conservative loan portfolio assessment policy of the Danske Bank Group and did not book additional impairment charges in the first quarter. At the end of March, Sampo Pank’s ratio of accumulated impairment charges to the loan portfolio was 10.1%, which is the most conservative on the Estonian banking market.

“The number of new loans increased, and although the loan portfolio decreased in Q1, the decline decelerated. The total amount of loans and leasing at the end of Q1 was EUR 1.6 billion (EUR 1.8 billion).

“Sampo Pank is strong and active on the deposit market. Total deposits continued to exceed the loan portfolio, rising to EUR 1.6 billion at the end of the quarter (EUR 1.5 billion).
 
“On the basis of its annual survey, the influential international financial magazine Euromoney declared Sampo Pank the best provider of private banking services in Estonia. Euromoney also rated Sampo Pank the best private banking service provider in 2009.

“In Q1, Danske Capital, Sampo’s pension fund manager, launched a new website, www.minupension.ee, which assists with financial preparations for retirement in Estonia. The website offers valuable information on direct and indirect factors that may affect retirement planning as well as special calculators that help predict the amounts needed for retirement and that are unique in Estonia.”

The Danske Bank Group’s Interim Report – First Quarter 2011 is available online at www.danskebank.com/reports.