On its part, Citadele bank finished 2014 with €29.2 million in audited profit, which was 91% more compared to 2013, the bank announced in a press release Tuesday.
“These were the best results reached since beginning our activity. In four years, from a company that in 2010 was starting out with losses, has turned into one of the most profitable banks in Latvia, one of the most active creditors of the Latvian economy, a stable employer and taxpayer,” said Citadele bank council chairman Klāvs Vasks.
After all this work invested in the bank’s development, the board is pleased that the government has succeeded in finding an honorable group of international investors that will be able to lift it even higher as a national leader in the banking sector in terms of quality and product diversity, the council chairman continued.
In spite of trends in the sector for banks’ credit portfolios to fall in value, Citadele is one which has increased the amount of loans given out. Its number of clients increased by 17000 individual and 3000 business clients in Latvia, by more than 9000 in the neighboring Baltic states.
Citadele group's audited results show that the total amount of the group's assets reached €2.85 billion in 2014. The group's loan portfolio was €1.08 billion whereas its deposit portfolio was €2.52 billion.
The amount of profits will play a role in what the Latvian state treasury will eventually recover from the final sale transaction for the restructured former Parex Bank, a convoluted and confidential calculation to say the least that the Ripplewood Holdings investor group would rather not divulge.