Bigbank increased business volumes by half and reached 17% return on equity in 2022
Bigbank increased its loan portfolio by 50% and its deposit portfolio by 52% in 2022, while maintaining profitability and ensured the return on equity at 17%, according to the Bigbank unaudited financial results of the fourth quarter and the 12 months of 2022 that were published today.
According to Martin Länts, Chairman of the Management Board of Bigbank, the financial results of the previous year are strong despite the challenging economic environment and prove that the bank continues to grow. “On 18 March 2022, the Bigbank loan portfolio exceeded the milestone one billion euros and already on 23 March also the deposit portfolio reached the landmark one billion euros. In addition, the net profit of Bigbank amounted to 33.7 million euros in 2022 and the return on equity was 17%. I would also include the listing of bonds on the Nasdaq Tallinn securities market and gaining the status of a listed company as one of the highlights of the year. In addition to strong financial results, there has been further progress in customer service, which is at least as important for us – our NPS score reached a record 52 points,” noted Länts.
In the fourth quarter the impact of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the accompanying geopolitical risks as well as the environment with high inflation remained limited - the risks to these events have not materialised. Despite the decline in consumer confidence, the quality of the Bigbank loan portfolio has not deteriorated – by the end of the year, only 1.1% of the gross loan portfolio was more than 90 days overdue.
As a first step towards everyday banking, Bigbank launched a Visa credit card in December 2022. At the moment the Bigbank credit card is only available to customers in Estonia, but soon it will also be available to customers in other countries where Bigbank operates.
The gross loan portfolio of Bigbank grew to a record 1.36 billion euros in 2022, increasing by 452 million euros (+50%). The housing loan portfolio grew more than three times, from 72 million euros at the end of 2021 to 225 million euros. The business loan portfolio more than doubled, from 228 million euros at the end of 2021 to 473 million euros. The consumer loan portfolio grew by 56 million euros to 659 million euros as compared to the year before.
The strong growth of the Bigbank loan portfolio was supported by the increase of the deposit portfolio. The total deposit portfolio increased to 1.37 billion euros over the year, increasing by 469 million euros (+52%). The biggest increase was recorded by the savings deposit, which increased by 281 million euros (+82%) in a year to 622 million euros. The fixed-term deposit portfolio increased by 189 million euros (+34%) to 746 million euros.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Bigbank earned a net profit of 12.5 million euros, which is 24% more than in the same period a year earlier. The profit for the 12 months of 2022 was 33.7 million euros, which is 0.6 million euros more (+2%) than the year before.