Summary of UK Q1 results January – March 2023 figures compared with January – March 2022 (1):
- UK income increased by 56% to £222.3m (partly due to increased business volumes)
- UK result before credit losses up by 161% to £119.1m
- UK operating profits up by 167% to £118.4m
- UK deposits up 7% to £20.5bn: household deposits up 1% to £5.6bn, corporate deposits up 9% to £14.9bn
- UK lending down 7% to £18.9bn: household lending (largely mortgages) down 9% to £5.7bn, corporate lending down 6% to £13.2bn
Handelsbanken plc reports a strong first quarter result that underlines the benefits of its local relationship banking model. The Bank’s low risk tolerance and commitment to a local and personal banking approach means it is also reporting a low level of credit losses. Asset quality continues to be robust.
Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO, says: “Handelsbanken is a prudent lender with a conservative risk tolerance - something which remains consistent throughout the economic cycle. We tend to work with customers who share our values of long-term thinking and having a prudent approach to finances. This means we have a high quality loan book and a long standing record of low loan losses. All of this is reflected in this latest set of results which is another ‘best ever’ quarter for the Bank.
“At Handelsbanken we see it as our responsibility to support our customers through the good as well as more challenging times, and I am pleased to see that our customers are trusting us to do this as demonstrated by the increase in deposits, reported in today’s results. Handelsbanken has a very strong capital and liquidity position, evidenced by our very strong credit ratings (2) which makes us Europe’s safest commercial bank (3) and part of one of the world’s strongest banking groups. It’s an exciting time for our bank in the UK as we develop our plans for the future by investing in, among other things, our technology and customer experience. We are therefore well-placed to support our customers with their financial needs and ambitions both in the short and long term.”
Chris Teasdale, Chief Branch Officer says: “At Handelsbanken we know every customer personally thanks to our UK wide branch network. Each one has a dedicated relationship manager who knows them and their financial requirements and this means we can deliver very high levels of customer service (4).
“Handelsbanken employees take pride in building and nurturing long-term relationships with customers. We are finding that our customers really appreciate being able to talk to a team of experts who know them and their financial circumstances and who are able to provide tailored advice on both their banking and wealth management needs (5), especially in the current turbulent times. Our excellent quarterly results today are testament to the success of the unique relationship banking approach that characterises Handelsbanken.”
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For more information please contact:
Sonia Rothwell, External Communications Manager
sonia.rothwell@handelsbanken.co.uk
+44 (0)7790 887513