Last year, SEB Eesti financed the Estonian economy with 2 billion euros

Today, the SEB Group published its financial results for 2021, 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,

‘Last year, SEB financed new projects worth 1.3 billion euros for companies and 700 million euros for private customers. Demand for loans was highest in the agricultural, forestry, wholesale, and retail trade sectors. The real estate sector has been very active, but also IT, for example. We expect corporate loan demand to increase this year, as 85 per cent of the capacity of Estonian industry had already been used in the second half of last year. This means that companies have to invest in additional production capacity to grow. 

SEB is ready to contribute to the continued growth of the Estonian economy – we are interested in financing companies with a growth ambition, a desire to increase productivity and efficiency, and a mission to move towards more sustainable and cleaner management. Rising energy prices and inflation are serious issues for both companies and individuals, and we are ready to help customers manage risks.

The growth of deposits was still in double digits

Deposits and liquid funds of individuals and companies continued to grow faster than loans last year. Deposits of individuals grew by 16 per cent over the year and those of business customers by 14 per cent. In addition to the constant money printing by central banks, this has also been affected by the sale of several companies, which resulted in an increase in the liquid assets of companies. The rapid growth of household deposits has been driven by high wage growth, continued lower spending on travel and entertainment, and nearly 1 billion euros paid to families in September as a result of the pension reform. Half of the money withdrawn from the second pension pillar had been spent by the end of the year. 

Two trends: investment and sustainability

While the money withdrawn from the second pension pillar was mainly used for consumption, in general the people of Estonia have started to invest significantly more or at least want to start with it. Demand for personal investment advice has been high for some time, so in the middle of last year, SEB came up with the first robot advice solution in Estonia. Today, almost 3,000 people have started investing with the help of the Robo-Advisor.

High energy prices have reminded consumers that sustainable homes or vehicles are more secure decisions for the future. Only 1.5 per cent of Estonian homes have an A-class and 3.5 per cent a B-class energy label, so the rise in energy prices has a direct impact on Estonian families. We cannot control energy prices, but we can reduce energy consumption, which not only has an economic impact but also helps to save the environment. The focus of SEB is therefore on more favourable loans for the purchase of sustainable homes and vehicles, as well as raising awareness of the footprint of each person in the environment, for the measurement of which we launched a special mobile application at the end of the year. 

SEB Eesti earned a profit of 99.4 million euros in 2021

The units of SEB Eesti ended 2021 with a profit of 99.4 million euros, which is 12 million more than in 2020. The operating income of SEB was 174.8 million euros and the operating expenses were 62.8 million euros. The profit growth last year was affected by a reduction in the reserves for loan losses – while in 2020, the bank increased reserves by 11 million euros in case loan losses increased, last year, the amount of these reserves was reduced by 3.2 million euros. 

Thanks to strong financial results, very high capitalisation, and stable loan quality, the bank paid 97 million euros in dividends last year. In 2021, SEB paid 15.8 million euros in income tax.’

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