Allan Parik: entrepreneurs expect video meetings and innovation support from the bank

Today, SEB Grupp published the economic results for Q1 2017. Information about the results is available here: www.sebgroup.com/ir

Allan Parik, Chairman of the Management Board of SEB Pank, provided the following comments on the results of SEB in Estonia:

“The expectation that the standard of living in Estonia would catch up with that of other European countries can only be realised when our economic growth is among the highest in Europe. Over the last two years Estonia’s economic growth has ranked 23rd and 20th, respectively, in Europe, and if this continues we will never achieve the hoped-for standard of living. If we would have been able to maintain the fastest rate of growth in Europe for the past 10 years, the economy in Estonia would be twice as big as it is today. SEB has taken an active role in enlivening the business environment and in Q1 we launched several innovations, enabling our customers to take a step forward in their development.

More ambition for entrepreneurs

SEB opened an innovation centre for businesses in Tallinn, Estonia, the purpose of which is to help enterprises grow their business and raise their competitiveness, thereby fostering faster economic growth in Estonia. At the heart of the innovation centre is a special growth programme, which helps enterprises to take a step forward in their business within a period of only three to six months. SEB’s objective is to bring the globally proven work methods used by start-ups to traditional companies and implement innovation at a rate that is several times faster than what is currently taking place. The first group, more than ten enterprises, has already started the programme. Hopefully SEB’s newly opened innovation centre will not be the only one of its kind, with other ambitious enterprises also creating similar opportunities for helping themselves and their clients move forward—this way our economic growth would not come from a few top players, but a broad-based circle of entrepreneurs.

To support entrepreneurship, SEB now enables its customers to open their company account via video meeting, meaning that the customer no longer has to visit a bank office to fill in papers, as everything necessary will be arranged online. This solution is especially convenient for customers staying abroad.

Several digital innovations reached private customers

In Q1, many important new products reached SEB private clients. SEB implemented Smart-ID as a means of authentication; consumers were provided a novel mobile app; and private customers are now able to arrange their finances without leaving their desk, via video meeting. All of these digital innovations show that banking is undergoing another digital leap, since the users of bank services increasingly prefer using all services online.

On its dividends, SEB paid EUR 7.5 million in income tax to the state revenue

In Q1 2017, SEB Estonia paid dividends to its parent company in the sum of EUR 30 million, on which corporate income tax was paid into state revenues in the sum of EUR 7.5 million. Dividend payments by SEB to the parent company have increased each year. Last year, SEB Estonia paid dividends in the sum of EUR 20 million and in 2015, EUR 10 million. Over the past three years, SEB Bank Group has, in the form of different taxes, including employee taxes, paid EUR 67.7 million to the State Treasury.

The income of SEB in Q1 increased by 10.9% in a year-on-year comparison. At the same time, the net profit of the quarter was influenced by income tax paid on dividends. The units of SEB Estonia finished Q1 2017 with a net profit of EUR 12.5 million. SEB finished Q1 2016 with a net profit of EUR 12.8 million. In Q1, the operating income of SEB amounted to EUR 35.3 million (EUR 31.8 million in Q1 2016) and operating costs to EUR 15.3 million (EUR 14.8 million in Q1 2016). In Q1 2017, the bank decreased loan loss provisions by EUR 100,000 (in the same period of 2016, the bank decreased the provisions by EUR 700,000).”

For more information:

Kristi Jänes
Project Manager for Communication
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB

Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
Phone +372 665 5399
Mobile +372 5569 0616
E-mail kristi.janes@seb.ee
www.seb.ee

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