Announcement of the operating result of SEB Bank Group in Lithuania for the year 2018

In 2018, net increase in SEB Bank Group’s loan and leasing portfolio was 9 per cent (up to EUR 6.3 billion). SEB Bank’s deposit portfolio, including deposits of financial institutions, increased by 16 per cent and stood at EUR 6.3 billion. Growth in the loan and leasing portfolio was due to continued improvement in the financial standing of households and a greater need of companies to invest in strengthening their production capacity.

In 2018, the contribution to the state budget in various taxes of the SEB Group companies operating in Lithuania was more than EUR 66 million in total.

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

The year 2018 for Lithuania’s economy was one of the best since the Restoration of Independence – this was reflected also in the expectations and behaviour of both private individuals and companies.

Growth in the buying capacity of the population was accompanied by an increase in the consumption of households and financial possibilities of the population to set aside a certain part of their income and take care of their financial security. This is evidenced by a rapid – 15 per cent – increase in the population’s deposits. Last year, residential property market was also active. In 2018, the total amount issued in mortgage, consumer and other loans to private individuals was EUR 489 million, which is a 7 per cent increase yoy (EUR 455 million).

Local businesses were also optimistic in their expectations: an increase in borrowings by small and medium enterprises and large businesses was, respectively, 4 and 3 per cent. Labour market realities, such as increasing labour costs and workforce shortage as well as a need to increase business efficiency were also among the factors that urged businesses to increase their investments. Last year, the total amount issued by SEB Bank in new loans to local companies was EUR 1 679 million.

This year, Lithuania’s economic development should be faster than that of the European Union. It is obvious that we are in the late stage of the present economic cycle, however, the Lithuanian economy and financial system is quite balanced and is therefore less sensitive to any external surprises.

The year 2018 for SEB Bank was a year of innovations. With the aim to encourage entrepreneurship among the population and promote the innovations culture, in the spring of 2018 we opened SEB Bank’s Innovations Centre, which offers a rapid business growth programme for small and mediums enterprises as well as space and environment for start-ups. We started implementing the Open Banking initiative, made further progress in improving and integrating new functionalities in our mobile application, offered its special version for business. Also, we pioneered in offering our customers instant euro payments crediting service.

Mobile banking solutions will remain a key focus for SEB Bank. Our current priority is the development of instant and mobile payment services, offering the population even more convenience in managing their daily finances. Also, we will further develop our remote free-of-charge advisory service for customers on any financial issues of relevance to them which is accessible from any location and anytime at their convenience.   

Key data of 2018 year performance

• In 2018, unaudited net profit earned by SEB Bank was EUR 103.5 million (which is an 11 per cent increase as compared to the year 2017, when it was EUR 93.7 million), and that of the SEB Bank Group was EUR 105.8 million (which is a 14 per cent increase as compared to the year 2017, when it was EUR 93.0 million).
• In 2018, income earned by the SEB Bank Group was EUR 204.4 million ( EUR 177.9 million yoy), i. e. increased by 15 procentų.
• Over the year 2018, contributions to the state budget in various taxes by the SEB Group companies operating in Lithuania amounted to more than EUR 66 million.
• As at the end 2018, the number of employees of the SEB Group companies operating in Lithuania was about 2.5 thousand. Over a year, about 150 new jobs were created, mainly at the Service Centre of the SEB Group.   
• As at 31 December 2018, the SEB Bank Group’s equity was worth EUR 772 million (EUR 768 million yoy), i. e. increased by 1 per cent.
• As at 31 December 2018, the SEB Bank Group’s assets totalled EUR 7.9 billion (EUR 7.7 billion yoy).
• As at 31 December 2018, SEB Bank’s deposit portfolio was EUR 6.3 billion (EUR 5.4 billion yoy), i. e. increased by 16 per cent.
• As at 31 December 2018, net worth of the SEB Bank Group’s loan and leasing portfolio was EUR 6.3 billion (EUR 5.7 billion yoy), i. e. over a year, it increased by 9 per cent. Credit quality remained good.
• As at the end of December 2018, the number of active users of SEB Internet Bank was more than 500 thousand. More than 200 thousand customers were users of SEB mobile app, about 140 thousand have downloaded Smart-ID application.
• There was a consistent increase in the number of payments by card: over the year 2018, the number of payments by cards issued by SEB Bank increased by 18 per cent yoy.
• About 90 per cent of POS terminals within SEB Bank network at points of sale have the functionality of contactless payment by card. All Mastercard type payment cards issued by SEB Bank have the contactless payment functionality.
• In 2018, nearly 7 thousand remote advisory meetings were arranged for private individual and corporate customers.
• As at the end of December 2018, SEB Bank had 29 customer service units in Lithuania, many of them operating as financial advisory units, offering self-service areas for customers to execute their daily cash transactions.
• Customers of SEB Bank had access to an ATM network, which includes ATMs of SEB and Luminor (former DNB bank), i. e. 503 ATMs, and about 1,200 points of sale, where they could withdraw cash free of charge when paying by card.