Allan Parik on the financial results of SEB: the activity of private persons is recovering

Today, the SEB Group published its financial results for the first six months of 2024, information on which can be found here: www.sebgroup.com/ir.

Allan Parik, Chairman of the Board of SEB Pank, commented on the results of SEB units in Estonia as follows:

The first half of the year is characterised by an increase in the economic activity of private persons – for example, there has been a 25% increase in home loans taken. This year, SEB has helped to purchase more than 2,100 new homes. One indicator of the good financial health of private persons is also the fact that the growth of deposits has recovered during the year, with people’s savings increasing by 6.5%. Deposit interest also have a significant impact on the growth of deposits – SEB is the only bank that pays a monthly interest on the money on the current accounts of private persons. Hence, the total amount of deposits of private persons at SEB is nearing 3 billion euros. In addition to deposits, micro-investments made by private persons into exchange-traded funds or EFTs is also rapidly increasing.

In comparison to private persons, the economic activity of business customers remains modest. Yet, during this year, SEB has financed nearly 3,500 business projects in the total amount of nearly 555 million euros. We are prepared to significantly increase our contribution to the development of the economy beyond the current level of customer loan projects. Year-on-year, the loan portfolio of SEB has grown nearly 4% and is nearing 7 billion euros. In addition to ordinary financing, we have solutions for growth companies to help them fund the expansion of their proven business models already before reaching a stable profit.

The profit of SEB decreased year-on-year because we made an extraordinary dividend payment and thereby paid more income tax into the treasury. In the second quarter of this year, SEB paid a total of 57.1 billion euros in taxes into the treasury, which made us the largest tax payer among Estonian banks.

The profitability of the bank was positively affected by a strong loan portfolio, which enabled reducing reserves made for possible loan losses. Year-on-year, the income of the bank increased by 8%. However, during the second quarter, the income decreased a bit, as the loan margins decreased and deposit interests remained high. Service fees are also being reduced, as we have offered our customers service plans with a wider selection since April. In the first six months, expenses have grown by 15%, mainly due to an increase in salary expenses and investments made into new products.

SEB Pank Grupp (‘the Group’) ended the first half of 2024 with a profit of 93.9 million euros (compared to 113.3 million euros in the first half of 2023). The operating income of the Group reached 183.1 million euros (169.5 million euros in the first half of 2023) and operating expenses 42.9 million euros (37.2 million euros in the first half of 2023). The Group reduced its net expected credit losses by 4.4 million euros (expedited credit losses were increased by 0.05 million euros in the first half of 2023). Income tax was calculated at 50.7 million euros (18.1 million euros in the first half of 2023). In the first half of 2024, the Group paid about 64.7 million euros in total in various state taxes to the government of Estonia.

Additional information:

Kristi Jänes
Communications Manager
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB

Tornimäe 2, 15010, Tallinn
Phone +372 665 5399
Mobile +372 5569 0616
Email kristi.janes@seb.ee