Pēd. atjaunots: 26.08.2024 20:02 (GMT+3)
We are pleased to report about the successful performance of the
Unibanka Group in the first six months of 2002.
In the first six months of 2002 Unibanka Group's profit was 5.4 million
lats, representing a year-on-year increase of 2%. The Group's operating
income in the first half of 2002 was 19.8 million lats, a year-on-year
growth of 13%. Return on assets and return on equity was 1.7% and 18.5%
respectively.
In the six months the Group's assets increased by 17% to 693.3 million
lats. At the end of June this year Unibanka had the largest loan
portfolio among Latvian commercial banks, with a growth of 16% to 518.2
million lats (gross), furthermore its good quality was retained
(non-standard loans in the Bank's loan portfolio comprised just 4.6%).
Customer deposits with Unibanka rose by 19%, reaching 394.0 million
lats at the end of June.
In the reporting period Unibanka returned to public trading on the Riga
Stock Exchange via issuing debt securities. Since de-listing of its
shares Unibanka was not an active player on the Riga bourse. In order
to attract medium-term lat resources on February 4 Unibanka launched
the largest issue of debt instruments in Latvia with a nominal value of
25 million lats. According to the prospectus 25,000 securities with a
nominal value of 1,000 lats with a fixed income rate of 6.50% were
issued for public trading, they were registered bonds with a maturity
of 3 years. The placement deadline of the issue was July 10. According
to initial placement results the issuing of bonds was a successful step
taken by the Bank. The traded volumes exceeded expectations. On July10
the nominal value of the bonds sold reached 9.946 million lats. In line
with the decision of the Board of Directors within a month these bonds
must be registered in the Official List with the Riga bourse.
During 2002 Unibanka continues working vigorously on further
development of the range of services, upgrading and diversifying the
distribution technology, and improving services with an aim to
strengthen its position in the field of services for private and
corporate customers.
In February 2002 Unibanka completed the rollout of the new payment card
management system (CMS) project. As a result the Bank's customers can
execute payments into their card accounts more rapidly and receive more
detailed information about transactions carried out through various
e-channels. The CMS is a component of an integrated information
technology platform and alongside the planned development of services
provides cardholders with broader possibilities for using the Bank's
products.
There has been another important innovation introduced this year with
the aim of ensuring additional safety for customer transactions in the
Bank's ATMs. Unibanka's cash dispensers now request the customer to
enter a PIN code repeatedly prior to the execution of cash-related
transactions such as withdrawals, payments of bills or transfers.
Alongside the new safety measures Unibanka offers its customers also
new facilities for efficient management of their funds. Now customers
are able to attach their payment card to several accounts, of which one
is the basic account, and the remaining accounts are supplementary
accounts, moreover, in different currencies if needed.
As of June 3 Unibanka has enlarged its range of payment cards giving
its customers a possibility to obtain international Maestro debit cards
and Eurocard/ Mastercard (EC/MC), which ensure payments in euros (EUR).
Up until then the Bank had offered its customers cards with the
account currency in Latvian lats (LVL) and US dollars (USD).
As to payment card services in the first half of the year Unibanka as a
member of the SEB Group has started to offer its customers free cash
withdrawals via international payment cards (Visa Electron and Maestro)
at 1,166 cash machines of the SEB Group outside Latvia (except
Germany).
Unibanka has worked out a new pricing model in order to provide its
customers with more favourable prices for payment services, which
became effective as of June 3. The Bank is also focusing on the
advantages of e-channels. Under the new project Unibanka has
significantly lowered commissions for e-transfers through Ibanka
(internet banking) and Telebanka. Now Unibanka's customers, using
remote banking, have an opportunity to make payments at a considerably
lower price. For example, the new pricing model foresees, that for
transfers via Ibanka and Telebanka across the customer's own accounts
with Unibanka, there will be charged a commission of 0.05 lats instead
of the previous 0.15 lats.
In the first half of the year Unibanka reached an agreement with System
Access for the implementation of its netSYMBOLS banking solution, with
initial rollout comprising the eFinance, ePlatform and eCRM modules to
create an up-to-date technological base for further increases of
operational volumes and improvements of efficiency and quality.
netSYMBOLS is a modular customer-centric universal banking solution
that offers multi-channel capabilities through a seamless internet
computing platform, complimenting the existing core banking system
SYMBOLS in Unibanka, also developed by System Access.
Unibanka's performance in the first six months of 2002 shows that the
Unibanka Group is working in accordance with its plan, which provides a
good foundation for attaining the strategic goals set at the beginning
of the year. Unibanka is determined to hold its influence and leading
position in the Latvian banking sector as the largest provider of
banking services to Latvian businesses. The Bank will continue to
pursue its strategy and provide its customers with state-of-the-art,
high quality services to be the leader in the banking sector of this
region together with the other banks of the SEB Group in the Baltics.
We would like to use this opportunity to express our continued
appreciation to all our customers and business partners for their
fruitful co-operation, and thank our staff members for their ongoing
commitment to Unibanka's continuous development.