Nordea in the Baltic countries announced EUR 24.5 million in profits for the first quarter of 2017, an increase by 10% compared to the respective period in 2016.
“Nordea in the Baltics started 2017 with a solid financial performance. We have increased our capability in faster providing products and solutions that are adjusted to current market situation and customer needs. Furthermore, we have been actively developing areas in which we see a growth opportunity in the future. It is rewarding to see that despite geopolitical tensions, low interest rates and other factors putting pressure on banking sector, our total income the shows a moderate increase year on year, driven by growing customer demand towards daily banking services, including online advisory, various investment and pension products and risk management solutions,” says Inga Skisaker, Head of Banking Baltic countries.
The total income for Nordea in the Baltics went up by 2% y-o-y, reaching EUR 49.6 million. Total net interest income increased by 3%, whereas net commission income increased by 16% compared to the respective period in 2016. Total lending portfolio grew by 5%, amounting to EUR 8.5 billion, whereas total deposit portfolio increased by 16% y-o-y, amounting to EUR 5 billion.
“Delivering on bank’s strategy remains in strong focus – we continue improving our balance sheet structure by increasing capital efficiency and decreasing funding gap. We will continue selective lending and promoting versatile savings and investments opportunities to our home-bank customers. To strengthen our positions in online advisory we have made first significant steps ensuring convenient online banking for both private and corporate customer segments. We have introduced a new design and additional functionality to Nordea Mobile App and we keep advising our customers on secure and up to date netbank solutions by providing Nordea Codes. Recently we have launched modern Chat option for our customers in Lithuania, which we soon plan to expand across the Baltics. One of Nordea’s success stories, also highly recognized in the market, is online meetings – more than one third of our customer meetings are currently held online and 98% of our customers would recommend online meetings to others,” comments Inga Skisaker.
Latvia
Nordea bank in Latvia concludes the first quarter of 2017 announcing operating profit of EUR 10.1 million and total income amounted to EUR 16.4 million. The beginning of 2017 can be characterised by higher activity in daily banking operations and higher customer interest towards different savings and investments product offerings. As a result, total commission income has increased by 7% year on year, amounting to EUR 3 million, whereas total amount of deposits – by 7%, reaching EUR 1.79 billion compared to the respective period in 2016.
“Although the first quarter of 2017 in total figures shows slower increase of operating profit compared to the respective period in 2016, we have started the year with stable financial performance, and the total income and expenses according to our plans. We have managed to attract more customers to use full range of daily banking services we provide, including recently improved diverse online solutions and different savings and investments products,” says Janis Buks, Head of Nordea bank in Latvia. “Another evaluation we are especially proud off is the “Euromoney” award Nordea has received for the second consecutive year as the best private banking provider in Latvia.”
* This financial report is based on management accounting data.
For additional information contact:
Signe Lonerte, Head of Communication, Baltic States, phone: 6 700 5469, GSM: 29 116 146, signe.lonerte@nordea.com