OREANDA-NEWS. August 20, 2013. During the first 6 months of this year, SEB Group's revenue in Latvia increased by 2%, while its costs reduced by 5% compared to the same period of the previous year. The amount of new loans during the 6 months reached LVL 262.2 million, which is about the same as in the respective period of the previous year.

Specifically, in the 2nd quarter new financing amounted to LVL 133.1 million, which is 4% more than in the 1st quarter of this year. During the first 6 months, the number of new clients increased by 13% in the consumer segment and by 15% in the corporate segment. Operating profit and profit before savings amount to LVL 21.8 million. Considering additional savings in the amount of LVL 12.9 million made during the first 6 months, as well as the business performance of individual enterprises, SEB Group's profit for the 6 months was LVL 6.9 after taxes.
 
CEO of SEB banka Ainaas Ozols comments on results in the 2nd quarter of 2013 (performance results in the 1st quarter): "In the 2nd quarter, we continued working on several initiatives, which were approved early this year. The major project of this year, the introduction of the Euro expected to take place in 2014, requires a large share of the resources envisaged for business development. Currently, there are 140 people working intensively on defining requirements and testing works.

The first test of the introduction of the Euro was successful; we identified some issues to be improved and are now preparing for the second test. At the beginning of the year, we were the first to work proactively with larger and smaller Latvian enterprises in order to inform them about the requirements of the transitional phase. At present, after having received official confirmation, we have established the Euro information page eiro.seb.lv for our clients, where current information about the transition process can be found. We are now in the final stage of drawing up a plan for business hours and availability of our electronic channels for the end of the year. In September, we will open the application process for front-loading of Latvian Euros.
 
Alongside work on the introduction of the Euro, we also completed preparations to open a branch in the "Spice" shopping centre on 2 July. This is the 4th branch that we have opened in a shopping centre, thus further realizing our goal to review the locations of our client service centres and expand the availability of existing electronic solutions. We see that the desire of clients for financial services that are more convenient for them is increasing – currently, 35% of all clients whose payment cards expire choose to receive new cards by post. In the 2nd quarter, we completed work to ensure that young people can also receive their new cards after the expiry of the old ones without visiting a Bank branch.
 
The data for the 2nd quarter show that, in comparison with the 2nd quarter of the previous year, the amount of home loans issued increased by 33%, reaching LVL 11 million. In the 2nd quarter, compared to the respective quarter of the previous year, financing granted by SEB Leasing also increased by 12%."