OREANDA-NEWS. June 02, 2011. Business results of Citadele Bank for the 1st quarter of 2011 are in line with the restructuring plan and are better than anticipated. The Bank and its group finished the quarter with profit before impairment charges and tax of 0.6 million Lats. The Bank’s net losses after taxes amounted to 1.8 million Lats whereas the ones of the group amounted to 1.4 million Lats, which are better than plan, reported the press-centre of Citadele.

“Economics in the Baltics has started to activate however at significantly slower pace than planned before. Regardless of that, the results of Citadele are continuously improving. During the first three months of this year we have continued with sound business growth and we have worked on development of new products that are unique in the market. Thanks to purposeful work of our team, we have completed year 2010 in accordance with the plan and the 1st quarter of 2011 was completed even better than planned. We plan to finish year 2011 with profit,” says Juris Jakobsons, Chairman of Citadele Bank’s Board of Directors.

He indicates that similarly as in 2010, one of Citadele’s main tasks during the 1st quarter of 2011 was repayment of funding invested by the State as soon as possible.

“Unlike group banks that operate in Latvia, there is no investor behind Citadele’s back with “deep pockets” therefore we are taking care of refinancing ourselves. We are very grateful to Latvia’s government and inhabitants for the support they have given to the bank and repayment of this funding is one of our main tasks,” emphasizes J. Jakobsons.

In January 2011, half a year ahead of schedule, Citadele reimbursed 32.8 million Lats to the State. During the 1st quarter, the Bank has paid the State a total of 1.3 million Lats in interest payments for its borrowings.

During the first three months of 2011, more than 5’200 new clients chose Citadele Bank’s services: Citadele has acquired more than 4’200 new clients in retail customer and small and medium enterprises segment and more than 80 new clients in corporate services sector in Latvia, over 250 new clients in Estonia and in private wealth management sector – over 600 new clients.
Average turnover of American Express cards continued to grow in the 1st quarter of 2011: the turnover in American Express® Gold credit cards increased by 13% and in American Express® BLUE – by 16%. Practicing long-term cooperation with American Express and paying special attention to regular customers of these credit cards enables Citadele to acquire a significant position in Latvia’s credit card market.

During the 1st quarter of 2011 Citadele has expanded the network of sales points where American Express credit cards are accepted. The network of sales points accepting these credit cards has increased by more than ventures 100 in Latvia during the first three months of this year. Citadele has started issuing a new type of payment cards – Citadele payment cards, and worked on development of several new products that are unique in the market.

In order to facilitate business development, Citadele has practiced active lending and worked on development of new loan offers during the 1st quarter of 2011.

Citadele Bank is the largest local bank in Latvia with branch offices in other countries, the third largest bank in Latvia in terms of attracted deposits (9.7% market share), the fifth largest bank according to the total amount of assets (7.1% market share) and loans issued (5.1% market share). The Bank’s liquidity is stable and it significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

Total sum of Citadele Bank’s assets was 1.42 billion Lats (1.58 billion Lats for the Group) during the 1st quarter of 2011. The Bank’s loan portfolio was 650.2 million Lats (the group’s – 751.7 million Lats) and the amount of capital and reserves was 82.7 million Lats (the group's - 80.7 million Lats). The total amount of deposits with Citadele Bank reached 1.02 billion Lats (the group’s – 1.18 billion Lats) at the end of the first quarter of 2011.

Citadele Bank is a universal bank in terms of the range of services offered. Main types of its services are the following: servicing of current accounts; payment cards; consumer loans and mortgage loans; term deposits for retail customers and enterprises; distribution of American Express credit cards in Latvia and Lithuania; development of 2nd and 3rd level pension savings; provision of loans and refinancing services to enterprises; guarantees and letters of credit; leasing and factoring; 3rd level closed pension funds for enterprises; life insurance; private banking services and Concierge service; investment of funds in more than 20’000 local and foreign investment funds.