SEB Bank Group in Lithuania announces operating result for the first three quarters of 2019

At the end of the third quarter of 2019, net worth of the loan and lease portfolio of the SEB Bank Group, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year increased by 2 per cent, or up to EUR 6.4 billion (at the end of the third quarter of 2018, the outstanding loans totalled EUR 6.2 billion. A deposit portfolio of SEB Bank (including deposits of financial institutions) grew by 13 per cent and at the end of the third quarter of this year amounted to EUR 6.6 billion (EUR 5.9 billion in the equivalent period of the year 2018).

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

The development of Lithuanian economy in the third quarter of 2019 followed the same dynamic pace, however we observe more and more signs, which indicate that decreased prospects of the global economic growth have a greater negative effect on our local industry and on export-related industry sectors. To some extent, the above situation is holding back business investment. The new loans granted by SEB Bank to the local enterprises in the first three quarters of this year amounted to EUR 1 149 million (loans in the three quarters of 2018 totalled EUR 1 210 million, one-off contract excluded). The largest volumes of loans were issued to trade, manufacturing, service (transport undertakings included) and real estate companies, or 74 per cent of the total corporate loan portfolio.

Real income in the third quarter grew at a similar rate, as compared to the second quarter, employment rate was increasing, therefore the financial position of households remained stable. Positive mood of inhabitants, improving migration-related indicators and growing income resulted in sustainable lending in the private customer segment. The mortgage and consumer loans and other loans granted by SEB Bank to private individuals within the period of three quarters stood at EUR 344 million (EUR 353 million in the first three quarters of the year 2018). Stable financial position of the households stimulated them to ensure financial safety – as compared to the relevant period of the year 2018, the deposits from the public within three quarters of this year grew by 11 per cent, or up to EUR 4.1 billion.

Proactive use of digital services offered by the bank to private individuals and corporate customers demonstrates that it is convenient for them to order any service and product online or to get financial advice online. As of the end of September, the bank has provided more than 10 thousand online financial advisory services to private individuals and corporate customers. Currently, more than 70 per cent of the mortgage loan agreements are signed online using a special system. A new service has been offered to small and medium enterprises – a possibility to update the Form for Legal Entities via electronic channels.

We are among the first ones to promote the principles of Open Banking in Lithuania by inviting the financial technology companies to work together on developing innovative solutions for customers. At the end of the password era at SEB Bank, our customers have chosen more secure digital identity verification methods: currently, an absolute majority of our customers log in to the Internet Bank using a free of charge Smart-ID application, Digipass or electronic signature.

Key data
• In the first three quarters of this year, unaudited net profit earned by SEB Bank amounted to EUR 88.7 million (as compared to the equivalent period of the previous year – EUR 79.2 million), and unaudited net profit  earned by the  SEB Bank Group totalled EUR 87.8 million (as compared to the relevant period of the previous year – EUR 80.9 million)

• Income of the SEB Bank Group in the first three quarters of this year stood at EUR 162.7 million (as compared to the relevant period of the previous year – EUR 152.4 million)
• Deposit portfolio of SEB Bank as of 30 September of this year made up EUR 6.6 billion euro (EUR 5.9 billion as of 30 September 2018)
• Net worth of the SEB Bank Group loan and lease portfolio as of 30 September 2019 totalled EUR  6.4 billion (EUR 6.2 billion as of 30 September 2018). The quality of loans remained solid.
• Equity of the SEB Bank Group as of 30 September 2019 amounted to EUR 754 million (EUR 747 million as of 30 September 2018)
• Assets of the SEB Bank  as of 30 September 2019 made up EUR 8.2 billion (EUR 7.7 billion as of 30 September 2018)
• Lithuanian state budget contributions in various taxes paid in the first three quarters of 2019 by the SEB Group companies operating in Lithuania amounted to EUR 44 million
• At the end of September 2019, the number of active users of the SEB Internet Bank exceeded 440 thousand. More than 300 thousand private individauls and corporate customers are the users of the SEB mobile application, 339 thousand – have downloaded the Smart-ID application
• The volume of payments by cards issued by SEB Bank in the first three quarters of this year, as compared to the equivalent period of the previous year, grew by 18 per cent. As compared to the volume of cash payments, the share of card payments at the end of September 2019 made 49 per cent of the total value of payments, and in the equivalent period of the previous year – nearly 46 per cent
• In the first three quarters of this year, the number of remote financial advisory services to private individuals and corporate customers exceeded 10 thousand
• More than 90 per cent of the POS terminals  of the SEB Bank network installed in retailers are able to accept contactless payments
• Customers of SEB Bank based on the approved cash withdrawal limit specified in the selected Service Plan might withdraw cash free of charge under the identical terms (i.e. without any cash withdrawal fee for SEB Bank) from any ATM in Lithuania and all over the world. They also had a possibility to withdraw cash free of charge when paying by card at more than 1,250 points of sale (such withdrawal amount was not included into the total cash withdrawal limit)
• As of the end of September 2019, SEB Bank had  29 customer service units in Lithuania, 90 per cent of them (26 out of 29)  were operating as the financial advisory units, which offer their customers to perform daily cash transactions at the self-service zones