Hansapank                     NEWS RELEASE                04/07/2004 15:00



EXTRAORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS MEETING OF LATVIAN HANSABANKA



The extraordinary meeting of shareholders of Hansabank’s Latvian

subsidiary Hansabanka resolved to pay dividends in the amount of LVL

29.07 million (EUR 44.7 million).

The shareholders of the bank decided to pay dividends after a very

successful year in 2003. The assets of the Group’s Latvian operations

increased by 28% to EUR 1.45 billion and return on equity improved to

20.3% in 2003.

Hansabank Group is actively managing the capital structure of its

subsidiaries and keeping their capitalization on an optimal level.

After the dividend payment Hansabanka’s capital adequacy will remain

around 12%. This dividend payment will also reduce the Group’s

dividend income tax expense for 2004.



1 LVL = 1.538 EUR



Additional information:

Kristina Siimar

Hansabank Group, CFO

+372 6131 252





Mart Tõevere

Head of Communications and IR

+372 6131 569