Citadele Increases lending amounts; Business Investment in Technologies Increases

Paying particular attention to promoting the development of small, medium and manufacturing businesses, Citadele Bank has issued 464.13 million Euro in loans to Latvian businesses, of which 59.24 million Euro was new lending - shows bank’s loan portfolio in the first quarter of this year.

In general, the largest recipients of financing in the first quarter of this year were real estate, manufacturing and trade businesses. These were followed by construction, agriculture, forestry and the fishing industry.

"Manufacturing, trade, agriculture, transport and logistics are Citadele’s strategic industries which we are particularly keen to finance,” explains Citadele Bank Member of the Management Board Santa Purgaile.

The biggest increase in new loans - by six times - in the first quarter of this year in comparison with the same period last year was in businesses operating in the manufacturing industry.

Santa Purgaile, Citadele Bank Member of the Management Board: “When financing manufacturing businesses, we see that businesses’ investment in technologies is increasing. Furthermore, the approach of business owners has changed - if, once, they bought used second-generation equipment from European firms, then now Latvian business owners are buying the newest next- generation technology which is not even owned yet by their European competitors. There is also an increased demand for working capital or short-term loans, the most popular form of financing. Financing has also increased significantly for real estate businesses, but it should be noted that we are beginning to be cautious about financing this segment to avoid overheating the market and expenses.”

In the first quarter of this year, Citadele Bank issued a total of 139 million Euro in new loans in the Baltic states, 73 million Euro of which is business financing.

Continuing its purposeful, carefully considered increase in financing, Citadele Bank’s credit portfolio has expanded by 9% over the course of a year, reaching more than 1.4 billion Euro in the first quarter of this year.

Santa Purgaile emphasizes: “Our goal is to maintain healthy growth in loans issued, becoming a bank which is accessible to businesses for receiving the financing they need both for development and working capital. We pay particular attention to promoting the growth of small and medium businesses, as well as financing the characteristically Latvian or so-called local industries - businesses who use local resources such as timber, milk, or grain in their manufacturing, or Latvia’s geographical advantages such as in the transport and logistics segments. The desire and ability of business owners to borrow is increasing. This is also encouraged by economic development and tax reforms, meaning that income tax is not payable on reinvested profit.”

About Citadele

The Citadele Group’s shareholders are an international investor consortium with experience in the banking sector worldwide and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Citadele Group is managed from Latvia, with subsidiaries and branches in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland. Citadele provides payments and card payments, loans, deposits, investments, asset management and leasing services as well as a range of exclusive, unique products. In 2019, one of the leading customer service evaluation and improvement companies in Central and Eastern Europe - Dive - announced Citadele as the bank with the best customer service in Latvia and second-best in Lithuania.