OREANDA-NEWS. October 21, 2011. Regardless of the turbulent external environment, Nordea Estonia, a member of the European leading finance group, has stayed on growth track and expanded its loan and leasing portfolio. Compared to the same period last year, Nordea’s profits have increased by 35% to EUR 29 million, the company’s total income has increased by 7% to EUR 57 million, reported the press-centre of Nordea.

“Estonia’s growth that exceeded expectations during the first half-year and sustained economic confidence have had a positive impact on lending and investment activities of both individuals and companies. Customers trust Nordea even more now. Despite of the general decline in the loan market, Nordea has significantly increased its loan and leasing portfolio within the last three quarters,” Vahur Kraft, head of Nordea Bank Estonia, said. “We have seen especially fast growth in the leasing sector, where we have gained the trust of 2000 new customers this year.”

“In my opinion, a major sign of Nordea’s quality is its recent ranking, by the Global Finance magazine, among the most secure banks in the world. For the next few years, security will remain a key issue not only in Estonia but also in the global banking sector,” Kraft added and underlined Nordea Group’s high capitalisation levels (on the 5th place among banks active in Europe) as a major competitive advantage.

At the end of September, Nordea Estonia’s assets amounted to EUR 3.1 billion. Its loan portfolio amounted to nearly EUR 2.9 billion; compared to the same period last year, Nordea’s loan and leasing portfolio has grown by 6%. The leasing portfolio has increased by 18% y/y, to EUR 463 million.

At the end of September, Nordea Estonia’s corporate loan and leasing portfolio made up EUR 1.8 billion, its year-on-year growth has been 6%. This puts Nordea in the second place in the Estonian corporate loan market. The retail loan and leasing portfolio grew by 7% y/y and amounted to EUR 1 billion as at the end of September. The total volume of loans with arrears of more than 60 days constitutes 3.8% of the whole loan portfolio, which is considerably better than the market average.

 “Unstable foreign economies and slowing growth of our export partners keeps lowering consumer confidence and domestic demand in Estonia, as well as influencing the development of the banking sector. In a rapidly changing economic environment, trust of the bank and quality of advice play a huge role. That is why, no matter what happens to the environment, Nordea will stick to its promise of being the most personalised home bank,” Vahur Kraft said and added that while the average customer relationship index varies between 40 and 80 points for different banks, Emor survey concerning customer relationship strength places Nordea at 92 points.

Nordea Finance Estonia saw the fastest growth of the recent years during the first three quarters; by the end of September the company had issued EUR 172.4 million worth of new leasing credits, which is 76% more than during the same period last year. With the nine months, the company’s share in the leasing market has increased to 25%, giving it the second position. Net profits of three quarters amounted to nearly EUR 8 million.

The volume of pension assets managed by Nordea Pensions Estonia has increased by 14% in Q3 and by 75% year-on-year. At the end of September, Nordea served more than 20 000 pension collectors and the total asset volume of the funds is nearing EUR 39 million.

This year, Nordea has received a number of international awards. Financial publication EMEA Finance has selected Nordea as the Bank of the Year in Estonia; in addition, Nordea received the award of the best trade finance bank in the Baltic and Nordic region and an analysis published in August in the Global Finance magazine considered Nordea the most secure bank in the Nordics and Estonia.