OREANDA-NEWS. The operating profit of DNB banka in Latvia reached EUR 14.1 million in the first nine months of 2015. Thanks to low costs of risk (EUR 0.36 million), the net profit is close to the operating profit, reaching EUR 13.4 million.

The level of profit was  achieved due to the increasing activity of DNB clients in using the financial products and services offered by the bank, as well as the bank’s continuous efforts to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs.

The net deposit portfolio of DNB at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2015 was EUR 1.2 billion, which is an 8% increase comparing to the same period last year. The loan to deposit ratio reached 75%, which is a 10 percentage point increase in comparison to the respective period in 2014.

In the first nine months of the year DNB banka paid special attention to improving the availability of financing both for private entities, as well as large, medium and small enterprises. In the first three quarters of the year the bank has issued new loans worth a total of EUR 169 million, which is almost 10% more than in the first nine months of the previous year. At the end of September 2015 the net loan portfolio of DNB Group in Latvia was EUR 1.5 billion.

It must be noted that existing and potential clients of DNB banka have highly appreciated the new special conditions for mortgage loans that the bank is offering since July of this year. Client appreciation is illustrated by the amount of newly issued mortgages – in the last quarter mortgage loans worth a total of EUR 15.5 million were issued, which is an increase of 29.8% compared to the same period in 2014, when it was EUR 12.8 million.

Clients and especially new families greatly appreciate that the subsidiary of DNB, SIA Salvus is offering real estate properties with better mortgage loan conditions – financing of up to 90% of the property value and lower commission fees, as well as the mortgage loans available as part of the state aid programme for purchasing homes, which the bank offers in cooperation with ALTUM.

The portfolio of DNB subsidiary SIA DNB L?zings reached EUR 165.7 million at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2015, which is an 8.9% increase compared to the same period in 2014. In the first nine months of 2015 DNB L?zings has concluded new transactions worth a total of EUR 53 million.

In September Latvia successfully returned to the international financial markets by issuing new 10-year bonds in the amount of EUR 500 million, and we are honoured that the issuing of these bonds was organised by DNB banka in cooperation with HSBC and Natixis. The bonds were issued with the historically lowest rate, which reflects how highly international investors have appreciated Latvia’s economic development.

Throughout the year DNB banka is continuing to focus on providing clients with the opportunity to quickly and easily access the bank’s services remotely and to carry out financial cash transaction with the help of technologies rather than having to visit a branch office. DNB banka has introduced the possibility for customers to receive their renewed cards without coming to branch, and clients have also appreciated the option to withdraw cash from their account by entering a disposable code rather than a bank card.

DNB banka is also continuously enhancing the functionality of its internet bank by developing a new, modern user-friendly mobile application, which will be made available to the public in November.

The shareholder of DNB banka, DNB Group (Norway) recorded profits of NOK 6 363 million in the third quarter of 2015, up NOK 743 million from the third quarter of 2014. Higher volumes and wider deposit spreads helped raise profits.