Announcement of Q1 2017 operating result of SEB Bank Group in Lithuania

27.04.2017 - 12:00

According to preliminary data, Q1 2017 unaudited net profit earned by AB SEB bankas and AB SEB bankas Group was, respectively, EUR 21.7 million and EUR 20.4 million. Year on year, unaudited net profit earned by AB SEB bankas and AB SEB bankas Group was, respectively, EUR 12.5 million and EUR 11.3 million.

Comment by Raimondas Kvedaras, Chairman of the Management Board and President of SEB Bank

Early in 2017, economic growth was further determined by the domestic market development. Growth in average monthly wages still highly exceeded the rise of product and service prices. In the nearest term, an increase in real income will be the main factor stimulating positive sentiment among the Lithuanian population as well as domestic consumption. These trends were the deciding factor for growth in our bank’s volumes of lending to private individuals: in Q1 2017, a year-on-year increase in the volume of new mortgage loans and consumer loans issued by our bank to private individuals was by 1/5 (22 per cent) higher and was EUR 91 million.

Business is under strong competitive pressure globally, and from longer-term perspective it may cope with it only by investing in product cost reduction and quality improvement. Over several recent years, private investments of businesses were hampered by geopolitical tensions and caution on the businesses side, however, a pick-up in investment activities of enterprises in the beginning of 2017 was the main factor that stimulated stable growth in our bank’s credit portfolio. In Q1 2017, an increase in the net worth of SEB Bank Group’s credit and leasing portfolio was 9 per cent year-on-year. The amount issued by SEB Bank in loans to small and medium enterprises in Q1 2017 was EUR 121 million (i.e. increased by 6 per cent yoy) and that to large corporate customers – EUR 229 million (i.e. increased by 7 per cent yoy). Pro-activeness in implementing investment projects was characteristic of energy, transport and industrial companies.

In the environment of low interest rates, SEB Bank’s deposit portfolio (including deposits of financial institutions) continued growing – it grew by 4 per cent and made EUR 4.9 billion.

98 per cent of cash transactions are executed by our customers on their own, i.e. using our e-bank services. Also, there is an increase in the number of customers paying by card – in Q1 2017, the turnover in card accounts related to payments for purchases increase by 18 per cent.

Considering our customers’ preference to have access to a larger number of online services, in Q1 we offered new digital services – from now on, we provide financial advice to our private individual customers and sign the required documents via the Internet bank. Also, we have upgraded SEB Bank’s mobile app and jointly with our partners launched a new and innovative personal identification tool Smart-ID for access to our Internet bank.

SEB Bank Group in Lithuania: Key data

As of 31 March 2017, AB SEB Bank Group’s equity was EUR 694 million (EUR 730 million yoy), i. e. decreased by 5 per cent as a result of dividend payment to parent company Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB.
As of 31 March 2017, AB SEB Bank Group’s assets were worth EUR 7.6 billion (EUR 6.9 billion yoy), i. e. increased by 11 per cent.
As of 31 March 2017, AB SEB Bank’s deposit portfolio was EUR 4.9 billion (EUR 4.7 billion yoy), i. e. increased by 4 per cent.
As of 31 March 2017, net worth of AB SEB Bank Group’s credit and leasing portfolio was EUR 5.4 billion (EUR 5.0 billion yoy), i. e. increased by 9 per cent.
AB SEB Bank Group’s Q1 2017 income was EUR 41.3 million (EUR 37.2 million yoy), i.e. increased by 11 per cent.
Lithuanian state budget contributions in various taxes paid in Q1 2017 by SEB companies was EUR 9.3 million.
As at the end of March 2017, the number of active SEB Internet Bank users was 540 thousand, i.e. increased by 10 thousand, or by 2 per cent yoy.
Over a year, there was in increase in the share of payments by card by customers of SEB Bank in Lithuania as against payments in cash: at the end of March 2017, relevant ratio was 42 per cent. It means that of all the money spent by SEB customers paying by card and in cash 42 per cent were paid by card. According to the data of Q1 2016, this ratio was 39 per cent).
As at the end of March 2017, SEB Bank had 34 customer service units all over Lithuania, of them – 13 financial advisory units operating on cashless basis.
SEB Bank customers have access to Lithuania’s largest ATM network that includes SEB and DNB ATMs, i. e. 528 ATMs, also there are about 1,200 points of sales with cash withdrawal functionality available when paying by card.
AB SEB Bank Group in Lithuania consists of AB SEB bankas, UAB “SEB investicijų valdymas”, UAB “Venture Capital”. Also, SEB Bank Group includes companies operating in Lithuania that offer various financial services: life insurance company “SEB gyvybės draudimas”, real estate management company “Litectus”, the SEB Group’s shared services centre established in Vilnius (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, Vilnius Branch).