OREANDA-NEWS. Over first 9 months of 2013, the Lithuanian branch of Danske Bank A/S, the largest financial services group in Denmark and the second largest in Northern Europe in terms of its assets, has earned LTL 74 million profit before tax. This year's nine-month profit before provisions was LTL 31 million and the reduction in provisioning for bad loans amounted to LTL 43 million.

Danske Bank A/S Lithuania Branch has maintained rapid growth in the deposit market; the deposit portfolio grew 32 % and on 31 September amounted to LTL 3.489 million. The bank's deposit portfolio has been on the increase for the fourth consecutive quarter. The loan to deposit ratio over the first 9 months of 2013 remained the highest since the start of the bank's operations and on 30 September was 95 %. At the end of September, Danske Bank's share in the deposit market of Lithuania was 7.8 %.

“The financial results of the first 9 months were affected by low interest rates and the amortisation of the loan portfolio. However, during the year, the bank's deposit portfolio grew 32 %, that is it grew faster than the overall deposit portfolio in the market, which increased 5 %. This shows that before investing in development, companies are still carefully weighing their capabilities, and private individuals are continuing to restore the decline in their savings brought by the crisis”, Gintautas Galvanauskas, managing director of Danske Bank, said.

On the other hand, according to Mr Galvanauskas, it can be observed that the use of industrial capacities is relatively high and the depreciation of equipment in many sectors is also high. “The recovery of the expectations of businesses should encourage recovery of investment demand. Therefore, in the presence of favourable macroeconomic trends, it is likely that we will soon see a greater need for loans in the market”, Mr Galvanauskas said.

Over the first 3 quarters of 2013, net interest income compared to the same period last year fell 15 % to LTL 50 million due to low interest rates and amortisation of the loan portfolio. By the end of the 3-quarter period (31 August 2013), the share of Danske Bank in the loan market of Lithuania was 6.7 %.

Please note that over the first 9 months of 2012, Danske Bank A/S Lithuania Branch earned LTL 96 million profit before tax. Performing loans decreased by LTL 50 million and profit before provisions amounted to LTL 46 million.

More information about the results of Danske Bank A/S Lithuania Branch for the first three quarters of 2013 is available here; the financial statement of the Danske Bank Group for the same period is available here.

Please note that due to changes in the procedure for publication of the Danske Bank Group's financial results, this press release only provides the financial results of Danske Bank A/S Lithuania Branch for the first three quarters of 2013 and excludes the performance indicators of UAB Danske Leasing. Therefore, the performance indicators for the first three quarters of 2013 of Danske Bank A/S Lithuania Branch specified in this press release differ from those in the relevant press release issued in 2012.