Comment on the financial results of SEB Eesti in the first nine months of 2021

Today, the SEB Group published its financial results for the nine months of 2021, 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’s Estonian unit for the nine months as follows:

The profit of SEB increased by 13.1 per cent

The nine-month revenue of SEB Eesti was in the same range as in the same period last year, but expenses were 2.7 per cent lower. Close cooperation with clients has kept the loan portfolio of SEB at a high quality during the coronavirus crisis, which made it possible to reduce the reserves for possible loan losses by 0.5 million euros in the third quarter. The high-quality loan portfolio and increased client activity ensured that the nine-month profit of SEB was 13.1 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

Client deposits increased by 17.2 per cent

The loan portfolio of SEB increased by 2.3 per cent over the year, while deposits with the bank grew by 17.2 per cent. Deposits from business clients increased by 322.6 million euros and deposits from private clients by a record 512.7 million euros. The loan portfolio of SEB was 6 billion euros at the end of September and the bank had 5.6 billion euros in deposits.

One third of the money received from pension funds was spent in September

The private client loan portfolio of SEB increased by 5.7 per cent over the year, while their deposits grew by 22.6 per cent. Disbursements from the second pension pillar contributed to the growth of private client deposits, from which 307 million euros were received in the accounts of SEB’s clients in September. One third of the money received from the pension pillar was used to make purchases or was withdrawn in cash. Eight per cent of the money was used to pay debts or repay loans and leases prematurely, and six per cent was used as deposits. Less than one per cent of the money received from the pension funds was used for new investments or instalments of loans and leases.

The optimism of business clients is high, but the readiness to invest is still low

The loan portfolio of business clients of SEB decreased by 2.3 per cent year on year, while their deposits increased by 14.6 per cent. The low demand for loans is mainly due to large companies, while small and medium-sized companies are active initiators of new loan projects – their loan portfolio has grown by 11 per cent year on year. At the same time, the activity of large companies is expected to recover, as according to a SEB survey, 62 per cent of Estonian financial managers believe that the business climate will be good or very good for their company in the next 12 months.

SEB earned a profit of 75.6 million in nine months

The Estonian units of SEB ended the first nine months of 2021 with a profit of 75.6 million euros, compared to 66.9 million euros at the same time last year. In the first nine months, the operating profit of SEB amounted to 129.4 million euros (130.2 million in the same period in 2020) and operating expenses to 44.5 million euros (45.7 million in the same period in 2020). The bank reduced its reserves for loan losses by 0.5 million euros in the first nine months of 2021 (during the same period in 2020, the bank increased the reserves by 8.4 million euros). Income tax was calculated at 9.7 million euros in the first nine months of 2021 (9.2 million euros in the same period in 2020).

Additional information:

Silver Vohu
Head of Communications
SEB
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Email silver.vohu@seb.ee