OREANDA-NEWS. July 29, 2011. In June, enterprises received loans and leasing worth 584 million euros, which is among the highest monthly turnovers over the past two years. Compared to June 2010, the turnover has nearly doubled. From the viewpoint of financing investment, it is important that the turnover of long-term corporate loans was above 150 million euros for the second month in a row. Infrastructure and manufacturing sector have taken the most long-term loans, reported the press-centre of Eesti Pank.

Lending activity picked up in June also in housing loans, which posted a turnover of 45 million euros - the highest level since end-2008. As a result of growing lending activity, the loan and leasing portfolio expanded for the second consecutive month, making up 14.8 billion euros by the end of the month.

Interest rates on corporate and household loans remained at the same level as in previous months. The interest rate was more than 4% on corporate loans and slightly below 3.5% on housing loans. No significant changes took place in interest margins, either: the margin was 2.5% on corporate loans and 1.7% on housing loans.

Strong economic growth continues to support improvement in the loan portfolio quality. The share of loans overdue by more than 60 days declined by 34 million euros in June and made up 6.0% of the loan portfolio. Overdue loans shrank the most in the corporate sector, where loan quality improved in nearly every field of activity.

Corporate and household deposit stock did not change notably in June compared to previous months. By end-June, deposits accounted for 7.5 billion euros, having increased by 4% year-on-year. The stock of corporate deposits continues to decrease. Household deposits, on the other hand, are on the increase and posted an annual growth of 11% in June.

Banks operating in Estonia earned a net profit of 69 million euros in the second quarter. This result is similar to the level of the first quarter. Reductions in loan provision reserves by 3.5 million euros contributed the most to profitability. Another supporting factor was an increase in net interest income, since base interest rates have affected the growth of interest income more than interest expenses.