Allan Parik: recovery lays the foundation, but we must aim for growth

Today, SEB Group published its financial performance for the first half of 2026, which can be found at www.sebgroup.com/ir.
Allan Parik, Chairman of the Board of SEB Pank, commented on the results of SEB units in Estonia as follows.

Despite the continuing volatility of the external environment, we are seeing clearer signs of recovery in the Estonian economy. Companies are more willing to invest, albeit at a slower pace than we had hoped at the start of the year. There is a high level of activity among private individuals in the mortgage and leasing markets, and people continue to be extremely interested in investing. These developments also underpinned the strong results of SEB during the 6 months.

The loan portfolio of SEB grew by 8.1 percent in Estonia year-on-year, approaching the 8 billion euro mark for the first time. We are seeing growth across all customer segments, confirming the recovery of economic activity. The first half of the year was particularly strong for business customers, as the volume of loans and leases granted to companies rose by 58 percent year-on-year. Growth also continued in the SME segment, where new financing volume rose by 32 percent. In the first 6 months, SEB financed the growth plans of more than 3,000 businesses.

Activity among private individuals also remained high. In the first half of the year, SEB granted 442 million euros in new loans and leases to private customers, which is 12 percent more than a year ago. The housing loan market remained buoyant throughout the 6 months, and we supported over 2,500 home purchase transactions. The market was increasingly influenced by people moving house in search of larger or more energy-efficient homes, whilst buying activity was concentrated mainly in the resale market. In the first 6 months of the year, the average mortgage amount at SEB rose to approximately 150,000 euros, confirming that the sense of economic security continues to grow among consumers, as does demand for high-quality property in prime locations.

We are also seeing positive developments in the vehicles market. New leasing contracts with private customers rose by 54 percent year-on-year, indicating a recovery in the leasing market following the modest period that we saw recently.

The deposits of SEB customers grew by 3.2 percent over the course of a year, reaching almost 6.9 billion euros. Growth is mainly driven by private customers, whose deposits at SEB increased by 4.9 percent over the year. This demonstrates that Estonians continue to value financial security and are keen to grow their savings.

Interest in investment also remains strong. In the Investor Toomas and SEB Investment Game, which concluded in the second quarter, over 9,300 virtual investment portfolios were created and participants carried out a total of over 55,000 transactions. The game offered a practical opportunity to develop investment skills and confirmed that Estonians continue to be strongly interested in investing. We also saw its impact in real life, where the investment game helped attract new investors and learn about investing.

A key milestone in the second quarter was the approval granted by European Central Bank to the merger of SEB banks in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. We continue with our preparations to finalise the merger in early 2027 and to establish a bank with the strongest capital base and funding capacity in the Baltic countries, which will enable us to support the long-term growth ambitions of our customers better.

SEB Pank Grupp (‘the Group’) ended the first half of 2026 with a profit of 83.8 million euros (compared to 86.2 million euros in the first half of 2025). The operating income of the Group amounted to 144.1 million euros (148.4 million euros in the first half of 2025) and operating expenses to 46 million euros (44.4 million euros in the first half of 2025). The Group reduced its net expected credit losses by 2.5 million euros (the respective amount was increased by 0.7 million euros in the first half of 2025). Income tax was calculated at 16.8 million euros (17.1 million euros in the first half of 2025).

Additional information:

Kristi Jänes
Head of Communications
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB