Bigbank posts rapid growth in loans, deposits and income in the 1st quarter 2023
In the first quarter of 2023, the gross loan portfolio of Bigbank grew by 5%, the volume of deposits increased by 10%, and the bank earned a net profit of 9.6 million euros, with return on equity at 18%.
According to Martin Länts, Chairman of the Management Board of Bigbank AS, the bank’s first quarter financial results and the growth of its loan and deposit portfolio are all good signs. “We are proud to have been a good partner to many home buyers and corporate customers who are launching new projects. Despite the uncertain external environment and the constant increase in interest rates, we do not see an increase in the number of debtors or a decrease in loan volumes. At the end of last year, we started issuing VISA credit cards, which have been warmly received by consumers, and since Bigbank has been a trendsetter in the market as a payer of fair deposit interest, the volume of our fixed-term deposits is also clearly on the rise,” he said, commenting the results.
The financing of the success story was also helped by the total of 42.7 million euros of additional capital raised during the last two quarters through three different bond issues. “We are grateful to all our investors for their trust. Based on the capital requirements and risk weights applicable to banks today, we can now issue more than 5,000 new home loans in the average amount of 120,000 euros, or more than 650 million euros in total, provided that there is market demand and suitable customers can be found. We will continue on the path of above-market growth,” noted Martin Länts.
According to the financial results, in the first quarter of 2023, the gross loan portfolio of Bigbank grew to a record 1.4 billion euros in a quarter, increasing by 73 million (+5%). The housing loan portfolio grew by 22 million euros (+10%) in the quarter to 246 million euros. The quarterly growth of the corporate loan portfolio was 40 million euros (+9%) to 513 million euros. The consumer loan portfolio grew by 12 million euros (+2%) over the year to 674 million euros. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, the gross loan portfolio increased by 413 million euros (+41%).
In the first quarter, the quality of the loan portfolio remained good - at the end of the quarter, only 1.4% of loan receivables were more than 90 days overdue.
The deposit portfolio grew even faster than the loan portfolio, increasing by 130 million euros (+10%) to 1.5 billion euros in the quarter. In the first quarter, customers' interest grew especially in fixed-term deposits whose portfolio was up by 99 million euros (+13%) to 840 million euros. The savings portfolio grew by 31 million euros (+5%) to 658 million euros. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, the deposit portfolio increased by 482 million euros (+47%).
Bigbank earned a net profit of 9.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to 6.4 million euros a year earlier. In comparison with the results of the first quarter of 2022, the net profit for the quarter increased by 51%. Bigbank’s return on equity was 18.0% in the first quarter of 2023.
First-quarter profit before impairments and income tax amounted to 14.7 million euros. Loan impairments amounted to 3.9 million euros. Compared to the first quarter 2022, loan impairment costs were higher by 0.1 million euros or 4% whereas also the portfolio increased significantly.