OREANDA-NEWS. April 30, 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, SEB Group in Latvia continued strengthening customer relationships by expanding its presence in the trade centres, offering a number of improvements and issuing new funding of LVL 129.1 million to raise public welfare and to support company growth, which is 55% more than that issued in the first quarter of 2012.

The financial result of SEB Group in Latvia for the first quarter of 2013 is a net profit of LVL 1.6 million, which was impacted by the following two factors – low interest rates and the requirement to recognise additional allowances for certain loans. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, the number of new customers who have commenced cooperation with SEB Bank has increased significantly: that of private individuals by 21% and that of companies by 22%.

Ainars Ozols, President of SEB banka, on the results of the first quarter of 2013:
 
"The first quarter was spent under the sign of customer service and public education. In order to strengthen customer relationships, we implemented a number of projects at the beginning of the year, such as opening a third SEB branch in the trade centre. This time it was the trade centre Damme in Imanta. To prove that we are a modern bank, we introduced Digipass NANO, the mobile code calculator of the latest generation for Ibanka. We continued developing contactless smart card technologies and began offering e-cards also to the seniors residing in Jelgava city, not just the schoolchildren of Jelgava. We are content that the e-card project has gained popularity among the residents of Jelgava and earned recognition in the Gold Coin 2013 competition that was organised by the Association of Commercial Banks of Latvia where it was awarded the highest scoring among the services offered to private individuals. In support of shaping the public financial understanding, as part of the Financial Literacy Week, the experts from SEB banka visited several universities and schools in Latvia where they offered to complete the Financial Guru Test and shared with young people financial knowledge that has been accumulated in a dedicated section of the website of SEB banka that helps anyone manage their personal finances more effectively.
 
SEB Bank continued financing private individuals and companies, and the amount of funding issued in the first quarter of this year, LVL 129.1 million, exceeds what was issued in the same period last year by 55%. 76% of the new funding was granted to companies. The amount of funding issued to companies has increased by 69% compared to the first quarter of 2012. At the beginning of the year, good results were also achieved in home loans where SEB Bank issued LVL 10.3 million for home improvement and purchase, which is 27% more than in the first three months of 2012."

Financial indices of SEB group in Latvia in the 1st quarter of 2013:

The profit of SEB group in Latvia amounted to LVL 18.8 million;
The expenses, compared to quarter 1 in 2012 have declined by 7% till LVL 8.7 million;
Profit before provisions amounted to LVL 9.9 million;
Operating income after tax and additional provisions was LVL 1.6 million;
The total amount of deposits at SEB bank as at 31st march 2013 reached LVL 1.2 billion;
The total loan portfolio as of 31st  March, 2013 was LVL 2.06 billion;
In the 1st quarter of 2013, the amount of newly issued loans at SEB bank was LVL 129.1 million, that is by 55% more than a year before;
Capital and reserves as at 31st March, 2013 amounted to LVL 289.4 million;
The capital adequacy ratio of SEB group in Latvia was 16.27% on 31st March 2012;
SEB bank's liquidity ratio as of 31st March, 2013 was 43.7%.

Annika Falkengren, SEB group's President and CEO:
"SEB's results display stability in an environment marked by renewed uncertainty.  In the restrained business sentiment, we have continued to attract new customers and strengthen our market franchise in all of our core markets. The small and medium-sized corporates that are more directed towards the domestic Swedish economy have been more active. Lending to SMEs increased by 9 per cent compared to a year ago and we have attracted 3 400 new SME customers since year-end. We continue to have strong resilience. Our liquid resources amount to 25 per cent of total assets. Also capital ratios have strengthened to 13.8 per cent (Basel 3) Common Equity Tier 1 ratio. Non-performing loans are below one per cent of total lending and the net credit loss level remains below 0.1 per cent."

In the 1st quarter of 2012 SEB bank in Latvia has been awarded with several local and international evaluations and awards:

Global Finance named SEB bank as the Best Foreign Exchange Service Provider in Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden in 2012.

2 rankings received in Gold Coin 2013 - the competition organized by LKA (The Association of Commercial Banks of Latvia). SEB project "E-card - Multifunctional, Personalized Contactless Card" received the main prize in the category Services to Private Persons. SEB tool "Financial Advisory Model" got the second place in the category Services to Legal Entities.

SEB leasing received Clean Drive Annual Prize Award (www.clean-drive.eu) for Responsible and Sustainable business and promotion of Green driving in Latvia.