OREANDA-NEWS. November 02, 2012. Profit: EUR 58.3 million (first nine months of 2011: EUR 43.1 million), reported the press-centre of Sampo Pank. 

Profit before loan impairment charges: EUR 29.3 million (EUR 27.7 million)

Reversals of loan impairment charges: EUR 29.0 million (EUR 15.4 million)

Cost/income ratio: 39.5% (40.2%)

Yearly change in deposits: EUR 21 million

Yearly change in loans: EUR -207 million

Loan/deposit ratio: 73% (86%)

Customer base: 123,000

In addition to banking, Danske Bank operates in Estonia in the areas of asset management (Danske Capital) and financial markets (Danske Markets Estonia).

Aivar Rehe, the CEO of Sampo Pank, comments on the financial results for the first nine months of 2012 as follows:

“The strict savings measures planned and implemented to manage the debt and financial crisis in Europe will have a negative effect on the re-gion’s economic growth in the coming years.

“The growth outlooks of the largest economies in Europe are weakening, and this will also affect Estonia’s economy and exports. Cautious con-sumption behaviour is also putting pressure on Estonia’s economic growth. Both companies and people prefer to save and take less risks.

“Sampo Pank continues to carry out its strategy, whose key elements are first-class customer service, high liquidity, thoroughly considered risk management and stable financial activities.

“The surplus of deposits to loans remains strong. Deposits exceeded loans by EUR 453 million at the end of September 2012. The loan/deposit ratio for the first nine months was 72.9% (86.3%). We have the best deposit/loan ratio of all large banks operating in Estonia.

“The bank’s activities remain highly efficient. The cost/income ratio in the first nine months was 39.5% (40.2%).

“Sampo Pank’s pre-tax profit for the first nine months was EUR 58.3 million (EUR 43.1 million).

“The bank managed to increase its income 4.4% (EUR 2.06 million) above the level in the same period last year, and its expenses increased 2.6% (EUR 0.48 million).

“Total income came to EUR 48.4 million (EUR 46.3 million), and operating expenses amounted to EUR 19.1 million (EUR 18.6 million) in the period.

“Sampo Pank is a strong player in the deposit market. Deposits increased to EUR 1.7 billion in the first nine months (EUR 1.6 billion).

“The total loan portfolio decreased, but the speed of the decline slowed considerably. The total amount of loans and leasing at the end of Q3 was EUR 1.2 billion (EUR 1.4 billion).

“Sampo Pank follows the conservative loan portfolio assessment policy of the Danske Bank Group. But we did not make additional provisions after the first nine months, and the quality of the loan portfolio is improving strongly.

“On 30 September 2012, the ratio of the loan impairment reserve to the loan portfolio at Sampo Pank was 6.7% (9.1%), which is one of the most conservative among large banks in Estonia.

“Customer settlements are increasing. International payments were up 7.0%, and card transactions 1.2% in comparison with the same period last year.

“Sampo Pank and If Kindlustus have developed a solution for bank cards that insures products bought in shops or online automatically and for no extra charge. The banking sector usually offers such automatic insurance only with bank cards that are subject to large annual fees. At Sampo Pank, however, the purchase insurance applies to all the popular bankcards – MasterCard Black, MasterCard Credit, MasterCard Platinum and VISA Premier – both new and previously issued. The insurance cover in customer contracts has not been not amended.

“We continue to pursue projects that promote education and financial literacy. Sampo Pank and the president of the Republic Cultural Founda-tion signed the contract according to which Sampo Pank will continue financing the Educational Award for the next three years. The amount of each award fund is EUR 11,200.

“Sampo Pank’s new interactive study programme, Control Your Money (www.valitseomaraha.ee), was presented at the Bank of Estonia Museum on 6 September. It is an e-learning environment that is free of advertise-ments and free of charge, and it was created to make basic school maths lessons more real and fun. The learning environment is intended for stu-dents aged 10-15 and is the next stage after the popular gaming envi-ronment Rahamaa.ee, which is meant for children aged 5-9 and is also free of advertisements. More than 250,000 user accounts have already been created in the Rahamaa environment, which was launched two years ago.

“According to the organisational changes announced on 1 June, the Dan-ske Bank Group will start operating under the name Danske Bank in all countries on 15 November. This means that the trademark “Sampo Pank” will be replaced by “Danske Bank” on that date. The signs and labels at the bank’s branches will be changed, and all information systems, products and services will display the new name. Customers need not do anything as a result of the change, and all contracts will remain in force.”

The Danske Bank Group’s Interim Report – First Nine Months 2012 is available at http://www.danskebank.com/reports.