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Handelsbanken reports impressive performance gaining more from a British that is in economic recession

Thursday, 26 April 2012
Handelsbanken reported on Thursday a strong report contributed by over one-fifth of operating profit from abroad. It is pitted that the share gained from foreign earnings is likely to increase. In time, the bank has as many offices in the UK as it has today in Sweden.

The Bank took the risk fully engage in the British market at a time when many critics in Sweden warned that the British economy was not in good shape. In recent years, bank has thus been transformed from being a Swedish bank to becoming a Swedish-British actor.

During the first quarter a large part of the bank's foreign branch operations for the first time reported an operating profit of over Skr 1 billion. Over a fifth of the bank's operating profit of Skr4.5 billion originated from the foreign branch operations. And in the future that share looks to only increase.

In the first quarterly the report show that Norway helped with almost half the Skr1billion profit but within a few years, the bank expect Britain to give increasing revenues and profits. In the first quarter, operating profit in the UK grew by 146 per cent from last year to Skr248 million.

The Bank has also decided to open a fourth regional headquarters in the UK based in Bristol, for a country whose economy is in recession, with banks like HSBC, Lloyds and RBS in cost cutting mode. In the last two quarters, the GDP in the UK declined by 0.3 and 0.2 percent.

Handelsbanken's CEO Pär Boman does not look at the strained economy as being an obstacle to its growth strategy. On the contrary, he says.
"It's easier to run a good company in a recession than in boom times, "says Pär Boman.
In a summary via a press release, Handelsbanken presents the following financial report summary

Financial reports

Handelsbanken's Interim Report January - March 2012
Handelsbanken's Interim Report January - March 2012  Summary January - March 2012, compared with January - March 2011 The period's profit after tax for total operations went up by 14 per cent to SEK 3,348 million (2,932) and earnings per share increased by 14 per cent to SEK 5.36 (4.71) Operating profit for continuing operations went up by 16 per cent to SEK 4,571 million (3,930) Operating profit in Branch operations outside Sweden increased by 63 per cent and for the first time exceeded SEK 1 billion in a single quarter Return on equity for total operations rose to 13.8 per cent (13.2) Income increased by 12 per cent to SEK 8,866 million (7,938) Net interest income rose by 19 per cent to SEK 6,560 million (5,507) The C/I ratio improved to 45.2 per cent (47.4) The loan loss ratio was 0.07 per cent (0.06) The tier 1 capital ratio rose to 19.1 per cent (17.2). The core tier 1 ratio increased to 16.4 per cent (14.5) All bonds maturing up to and including the first quarter of 2013 have been prefinanced and the total liquidity reserve continued to exceed SEK 700 billion The Bank has decided to start a fourth regional bank in the UK		Summary of Q1 2012, compared with Q4 2011 The period's profit after tax for total operations went up by 10 per cent to SEK 3,348 million (3,046) and earnings per share increased to SEK 5.36 (4.88) Operating profit for continuing operations went up by 11 per cent to SEK 4,571 million (4,110) Return on equity for total operations was 13.8 per cent (13.0)   Income increased by 6 per cent to SEK 8,866 million (8,374) Net interest income rose by 3 per cent to SEK 6,560 million (6,357) The loan loss ratio was 0.07 per cent (0.06)

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