SEB in Latvia operating result for January-March: LS 15,1m

SEB in Latvia

• SEB in Latvia´s operating profit for the first quarter was Ls 15,1m, an increase by 6 per cent compared to the same period last year.

• Income for the first quarter was Ls 30,8, an increase of 25 per cent.

• Costs were Ls 12,4 m, an increase of 25 per cent.

• The portfolio of loans to households in the first months rose by 2 per cent.

• As at 31 March 2008 SEB in Latvia serviced more than 835 thousand private individuals and 63 thousand legal entities.

• In Q1 Of 2008 SEB līzings boosted the share of commercial transport leases that reached 30 per cent of total leases with industrial leasing accounting for 22 per cent, and car leasing – for 49 per cent of new deals.

• In the SEB Open-ended Pension Fund the capital accrued for the benefit of the pension plan participants by 31 March 008 which secured a market share of over 56 per cent among Latvia's open-ended pension plans.

• SEB Life Insurance as at 31 March 2008 controlled 38 per cent of life and accident insurance market.

• SEB Wealth Management was entrusted the 2nd pillar pensions of more than 213 thousand residents of Latvia and the assets under management in the first months of 2008 increased by 13.6 per cent.

• In the first months of the year the volume of assets in the Lats Reserve Fund managed by SEB Wealth Management grew by 54 per cent, while the market share reached 76.9 per cent.

• In Q1 of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007, the number of SEB internet bank Ibanka users grew by 24 per cent, and the number of executed payments – by 31 per cent.

• SEB in Latvia has generously contributed to culture, sports and education, such as, the teams of the SEB Baltic Basketball League, the SEB Student Basketball League and the gala concert of the SEB Musical Bank contestants.

• Together with the daily newspaper Diena and the state company Latvijas Valsts meži (State Forests of Latvia) SEB started a new environmental project The 11th hour to encourage young people to come up with ideas of environment rehabilitation and participation in various competitions.

Ainārs Ozols, Head of SEB in Latvia:

"SEB in Latvia in 2008 aspires to become the leader in the client service and we see that our chances to achieve this goal are very good indeed. In the first months of the year the bank has continued to inform and educate its clients on the necessity to plan their expenses at the same time creating "a cushion" in the form of long-term investments and thus protecting themselves against the contingencies in the financial markets. Over the last year a lot has been said about housing credits – SEB in Latvia has always been a conservative lender both to private and corporate clients carefully weighing their current and future potential. The bank will continue to grant housing loans and finance both new and growing businesses."

SEB is a North European financial group serving some 400,000 corporate customers and institutions and five million private individuals. SEB offers universal banking services in Sweden, Germany and the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It also has local presence in the other Nordic countries, Poland, Ukraine and Russia and a global presence through its international network in another ten countries. On 30 April 2008, the Group's total assets amounted to SEK 2,399bn while its assets under management totalled SEK 1,331bn. The Group has about 20,000 employees. Read more about SEB at www.sebgroup.com.