Swedbank’s profit in Q1, compared to the same period of 2018, grew to EUR 29 million. The reason for this was increased economic activity by the bank’s clients and therefore bigger income for the bank, as reported by the bank’s representative Janis Krops.
Net interest income, when compared to Q1 2018, grew by 6%, which was largely caused by growth of the bank’s credit portfolio. The bank’s credit portfolio has grown by 5%, which was ensured by growth in corporate and household credit portfolio. The volume of bank deposits grew by 1%.
Net commission income has grown by 5% when compared to the same period the year before. Growth benefited from active card and transaction field, which compensated lower activity in deposit management. Meanwhile, all other income has grown by 15% mainly thanks to larger income from insurance.
Total expenditures over the course of the year have grown by 3%, which is mostly due to higher personnel costs and investments in digital solutions. Loan quality remained high. Release of previously made savings for unsafe loans reached EUR 1 million.
“The year commenced with rapid growth for Latvia’s economy and Swedbank. Companies and private persons invest more in development than before – in the first three months nearly 1,000 companies have received funding from Swedbank for business development. On top of that, more than 900 families have used the option to purchase new housing. Compared to last year’s trends, we have observed that the majority of clients now use smartphone solutions to manage their finances – 400,000 clients use Swedbank mobile app. More than half a million clients have admitted that Smart-ID is the most convenient way to access Internet banking services,” says Swedbank manager in Latvia Reinis Rubenis.
As part of the previously commenced digitization process to improve products accessible for businessmen, Swedbank introduced the option to open a corporate account remotely. To continue improving formation of savings, the bank has introduced new life cycle based pension plans, the bank explains. (BNN/Business World Magazine)
