Return on assets improved dlightly to 1.17% versus 1.10% in the same period last year.
Net interest income grew by 12% to EUR 19.7 million.
The Group increased loans to corporate, SMEs and private individuals in all three Baltic states in Q1 2018, achieving 4% growth year-on-year in the Group’s net loan portfolio of EUR 1.32 billion. In the first quarter of 2018, EUR 74 million of new loans were granted.
In Latvia, the loan portfolio reached a total of EUR 1.0 billion, with the bank granting EUR 47 million in new loans in Q1 2018. In Lithuania the loan portfolio reached EUR 260 million, with EUR 19 million granted in new loans in Q1 2018. In Estonia the loan portfolio grew to EUR 106 million, with a total of EUR 9 million granted in new loans.
Guntis Beļavskis, CEO, Citadele, commented: “It has been a strong first quarter for Citadele Group as we continue our lending strategy in-line with our goal to be the leading banking service provider in the Baltics. We saw positive trends in all our key metrics and improvements in asset quality continue validate our prudent approach to risk management. Citadele Group remains focused on building its presence in the Baltic countries.”
Domestic deposits increased by almost EUR 30 million. Non-domestic customer business continued to be scaled back and resulted in a decrease of overall deposits in the first quarter 2018. As at 31 March 2018, the Group’s deposits were EUR 2.7 billion; a reduction of 7% compared with the first quarter of 2017.
Citadele, formed from the wreckage of notorious Parex banka, was most recently in the news when it was entrusted by the Financial and Capital Market Commission to facilitate pay-outs of state-guaranteed compensation to AS ABLV Bank depositors from 3 March 2018.
