OREANDA-NEWS.  April 07, 2014. Citadele Bank concluded 2013 with a net profit 15.2 million euros (10.7 million lats) and has managed to nearly double its profit in comparison with 2012. Citadele Group concluded the year with a profit of 13.7 million euros (9.6 million lats), that is better than in 2012.

Consistent with previous years, in 2013 Citadele Bank delivered another year of strong growth and improved performance. Operating income for Citadele Group's was up by 10.2%, thus reaching 107.6 million euros (75.6 million lats). Conversely, the Bank's operating income increased by 20.7% and reached 88.4 million euros (62.1 million lats).

During the year, the Group's loan portfolio increased by 36.6 million euros (25.7 million lats) and reached 1.05 billion euros (742 million lats). Citadele Bank's loan portfolio increased by 30.2 million euros (21.2 million lats) and reached 924.9 billion euros (650 million lats).

"Issuing new loans and the increase in clients' activity fostered by the stable growth of the economy in the Baltic states ensured successful financial results," explains Guntis Belavskis, Chairman of the Board of Citadele Bank. "Our attention was mainly focused on developing new business directions and products as well as risk management thus ensuring the Bank's profitability and stable liquidity; as a result the Bank's liquidity ratio was 56% in the end of 2013," continues Mr. Belavskis.

"Regardless of the fact that the total loan portfolio in the banking sector decreased during 2013, Citadele was one of the banks which succeeded at increasing it," the Chairman comments. Citadele's loan portfolio increased by 4.3% in 2013. The Bank's ROE improved to 11.1%, the Group's ROE improved to 9.8%.

According to the Latvian Association of Commercial Banks, Citadele is the third largest of all banks operating in Latvia in terms of the number of clients (284 thousand). Likewise, Citadele Bank ranked third according the number of payment cards as of 31 December 2013. Citadele is the fifth largest bank in terms of attracted deposits (9.6% of the total market). Possessing 168 ATMs, Citadele currently has the third largest ATM network in Latvia.

Citadele Invests in Economic Development

Citadele continued to facilitate business development in Latvia by issuing 139.2 million euros (97.8 million lats) new loans. This is an increase of 27% in comparison with 2012. The number of companies which chose to receive loans from Citadele Bank nearly doubled comparing to 2012.

"Being a local bank, it is important for us to facilitate the growth of the Latvian and Baltic economy by funding companies and facilitating consumption in our region. Therefore we pay special attention to lending and especially supporting enterprises, and we have increased our corporate lending activity," explains Guntis Belavskis.

In Latvia, Citadele signed up more than 45,000 new private clients and over 4,000 companies, moreover almost 2,000 new customers started relationship with our Private Capital Management business.

Citadele's subsidiary IPAS Citadele Asset Management expanded the range of offered services. In the third quarter of 2013, certificates of a new open-end investment fund, the Citadele Global Emerging Markets Bond Fund, was admitted to listing on the Mutual Fund List and included in the trading system of the NASDAQ OMX Riga stock exchange.

Citadele's Subsidiaries Are on a Steady Development Path The year 2013 was especially successful for Citadele's subsidiary IPAS Citadele Asset Management which increased the assets under management to 554.9 million euros (390 million lats) thus exceeding 2012’s result by 43%.

Citadele's Baltic leasing subsidiaries earned a profit of 1.3 million euros (0.9 million lats) for the year with aggregate assets amounting to 88.9 million euros (62.5 million lats). The Lithuanian subsidiary bank, AB Citadele, also reported positive results, generating a profit of 1.8 million euros (1.3 million lats) in 2013.

AAS Citadele Life increased its customer portfolio by more than 1.8 million euros (1.3 million lats), acquiring over 1,300 new customers. Conversely, AS Citadele atklatais pensiju fonds customer portfolio grew by 5 million euros (3.55 million lats) thanks to 3,000 clients in 2013.

Citadele Continues Implementing Social Responsibility Projects

The Bank's social responsibility strategy seeks to expand opportunities for people with disability and facilitate their integration into society. In 2013, Citadele Bank organized a photo exhibition You are. You can. which was dedicated to the London Paralympic Games; this exhibition travelled across the entire territory of Latvia. Citadele also supported the race car driver Janis Tomsons who lost one of his legs due to illness. This enabled him to participate in several rounds of vintage car races known as the Amber Circle. Citadele Bank organized a project competition named OPEN THE DOOR! in cooperation with SUSTENTO, a collaboration organization for people with special needs in Latvia. The competition resulted in Citadele Bank granting co-funding to seven organizations for implementing their projects as a result.

Citadele Receives Local and International Awards

The European Business Awards 2012/2013 competition nominated Citadele among the top 100 best enterprises in Europe, and the Bank was awarded as one of the 10 best European companies in the The Infosys Business of the Year Award category (with turnover ranging from 26 – 150 million euros); this award is conferred for rapid business development, strong financial performance and innovations. Euromoney, the global finance magazine, recognized Citadele the best local bank in Latvia. In turn, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania recognized Citadele as the most popular Latvian brand in Lithuania.