Signet Bank performance indicators continue to grow steadily in 2020

The Bank’s overall performance in the first three quarters of 2020 has been positive: net fees and commission amounted to EUR 3.2 mln, net interest income was EUR 4 mln (+61%, compared to the corresponding period in 2019), while operating income reached EUR 8.3 mln (+48%, compared to the corresponding period in 2019). The Bank’s profit amounted to EUR 0.9 mln, which is EUR 0.4 mln more than in the corresponding period last year. Signet Bank also complies with regulatory indicators with a comfortable margin – the capital adequacy ratio was 17% at the end of the third quarter, with a liquidity coverage ratio of 268%.

New lending transactions remain an important business development priority for Signet Bank – in 2020, the Bank’s loan portfolio increased by 25%. We will continue to ensure the availability of credit resources to Latvian entrepreneurs as one of the main priorities in Signet Bank strategy. We continue to actively seek new lending and investment projects, focusing on financing of cash flow instruments, real estate development projects, equipment acquisition and business expansion projects, financing of working capital and merger and acquisition transactions.

Another important direction is providing financing to clients through bond issues. In the current environment, when the availability of bank financing is not always sufficient to achieve all the goals of companies, the alternative forms of financing are becoming more and more relevant. In Q3 2020, Signet Bank arranged two bond issues for its clients – the bonds of Delfin Group and Sun Finance. In addition, we have started working on a number of new projects and see very good prospects for this area of activity.

Roberts Idelsons, CEO at Signet Bank

Over the past two years, Signet Bank has successfully shifted its focus from serving international clients to clients from Latvia and other EU countries. At the end of Q3 2020 more than 70% of the Bank’s clients were from Latvia and other EU countries. Their share in total volume of clients assets under management and administration as well as in total revenues of the Group also exceeds 70%.

Now that Signet Bank has implemented the transformation of its business model, we see very good prospects for further business development. Despite the relatively large number of banks in Latvia, Signet Bank is very competitive with its product offering, higher quality of service, experienced bankers, and free capital and resources for the development of lending in the Latvian market.

Roberts Idelsons, CEO at Signet Bank