Local relationship bank, Handelsbanken, has today announced its second quarter (Q2 2020) results(1), showing ongoing steady increases in both lending and deposit-taking, as the Bank continues to focus on supporting local customers through the ongoing crisis.
Over the first half of 2020, Handelsbanken saw a 3 per cent year-on-year increase in overall net lending to individual and corporate banking customers to £21.9bn; with the majority of the increase in corporate lending taking place in Q2, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bank also recorded a 15 per cent increase in overall customer deposits to £16.9bn, including 17 per cent growth in corporate deposits. This year-on-year increase included a net influx of corporate deposits during the last quarter (Q2 2020), in part reflecting the Bank’s reputation for financial prudence and solidity.
Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO, says: “We’ve always been a conservative bank and lent responsibly to our customers whatever the economic conditions. We are fortunate to work with customers who share our values, including the desire to have a local, individual relationship with their bank, and now more than ever, our priority is to use our knowledge of how the crisis is affecting them to offer targeted advice and support.
“Our branches have remained open throughout the last three months, with our colleagues across the Bank working flexibly to cater to each customer’s needs and help them navigate their individual challenges. As well as providing access to government schemes such as mortgage payment deferrals and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, we have strived to respond to the needs of each of our customers from ‘Day One’, and have introduced further crisis funding support of our own.
“With small businesses being the backbone of our economy, we are particularly pleased to report continued corporate lending support, much of which to our SME customers.
“We’re accurately aware of the anxiety and uncertainty that so many will be feeling as this historic economic crisis unfolds, and are therefore pleased if our stable, responsible banking approach can bring some level of reassurance to both customers and employees. As we move through new phases of this crisis, our focus on supporting our customers will remain just as sharp, looking both to the short and long term.”
Handelsbanken forms long-term, personal relationships with customers, through its distinct local relationship banking model. Customers have direct access to experienced branch teams who are empowered to make decisions locally, based on each customer’s specific needs and without product or sales targets.
This formula has, for the fourth time, led to the Bank topping recommendations for its services in four of the five categories of the Competition and Markets Authority’s independent service quality survey for business banking, the results of which were published in February 2020(2). In addition, for the eleventh year in a row, Handelsbanken has been top-ranked for satisfaction, for both personal and business banking, in an independent survey of British bank customers(3).
Handelsbanken launched in the UK in 1982 and, over the years, has developed into a bigger and broader UK business, based on customer demand for its personal approach to banking.
In December 2018, in a demonstration of its long-term commitment to the UK, Handelsbanken became a fully licensed UK bank, Handelsbanken plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of its Swedish parent, Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ).
Handelsbanken has since continued to invest in its UK infrastructure, strengthening its foundations for ongoing growth and securing its long-term presence in the UK.
Handelsbanken plc has been assigned a long term credit rating of AA with a negative outlook by international credit ratings agency, Fitch; and a long term credit rating of AA- by Standard & Poor’s. The ratings are the same as those given for the subsidiary’s Swedish parent, Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ), and confirm the Bank’s strength, stability and creditworthiness.
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For more information please contact:
Mariana Wall, Corporate Communications UK
07483 036 936