Bank Snoras Group is the only financial group in the Baltic States managing three banks – AB Bank Snoras, Latvijas Krajbanka and the investment bank “Finasta” – awarded Best Banking Group – Baltics, 2010 by World Finance.
The group’s clients, whose number exceeds 1.5 million, have entrusted the group with the deposit portfolio of more than Ä2.1bn; also, the group’s companies manage over Ä550m worth of the customer investment portfolios. The deposits directly reflect the trust towards the bank, while the growing deposit portfolio of the group confirms that Bank Snoras group has taken the right direction.
In 2009 the bank significantly improved the indicators of requirements limiting its activity risk. In August the bank issued the first in Lithuania emission of termless debt securities reckoned in the capital. In December, Vladimir Antonov and Raimondas Baranauskas, the main shareholders of the bank, granted subordinated loans to the bank.
These actions allowed to increase the bank’s capital base noticeably (by Ä42.3m) and to improve the capital adequacy indicator, which at the end of last year significantly exceeded the requirements set by the Central Bank of Lithuania and stood at 11.23 percent. The actions performed while reorganising the managed assets permitted to almost double the bank’s liquidity indicator.
Due to the bank’s consistent and timely actions, the market value of the bank’s shares grew by 2.6 times during 2009 and surpassed the other banks listed in Nasdaq OMX Vilnius Stock Exchange by several times, while the bank’s capitalisation comprised Ä116m at the end of the year.  

Client trust
In 2009 Bank Snoras deposit portfolio grew by Ä287m and at the end of the year it amounted to Ä1.4bn. Within last year, the deposit portfolio of the bank increased by 25.8 percent or 3.5 times faster than the entire deposit market of Lithuania, which grew by 7.4 percent. The fastest growth in Bank SNORAS was in the time deposit portfolio of natural persons.

The number of the bank’s depositors – residents in Lithuania at the end of 2009 comprised 140 thousand and it was by 21 thousand (15.7 percent) larger than at the close of 2008.

On the basis of the data of the Lithuanian Banks Association, Bank SNORAS, according to the size of the household deposit portfolio, is the third in the market of Lithuanian banks and comprises approximately 15 percent of the entire natural person depositors’ market as well as almost 13 percent of the entire deposit market.

Growth in challenging market
During 18 years of activity the bank has developed the largest customer service network in Lithuania consisting of 253 subdivisions (with 230 mini-banks among them), in 2009 continued to consistently invest in expansion and established 6 new bank subdivisions in Lithuania and a branch in Latvia. Today the customer service network reaches even those regions of the country where the banking services would be inaccessible. The bank manages a network of 337 ATMs and according to this indicator it occupies the second place in the Lithuanian market. The bank has issued 530,000 valid international MasterCard and VISA payment cards.

At the end of 2009, Bank Snoras provided its services to 1,089 million clients or by 51 thousand more than at the end of 2008. During 2009, over 2400 new corporate clients, whose total number currently exceeds 16,000 began using Bank Snoras services. Bank Snoras has branches in Estonia and Latvia as well as representative offices in U.K., Belgium, Check Republic, Ukraine, Belarus.

Diversified portfolio
In 2009 all banks operating in Lithuania had to reassess the risk and consequences of solvency and other factors as well as to form provisions which drastically corrected the indicators of the activity profit. Bank Snoras did not avoid it either, yet the bank’s rational loan policy applied in the previous years helped to end last year with the ratio which was several times smaller than that of the provisions and bad loans of the entire Lithuanian market. The results confirm that the way of managing the widely diversified loan portfolio and the business was a correct one and justified itself.

Bank Snoras results achieved due to the harmonious, professional and devoted work of over a thousand employees. The bank employees’ loyalty and experience are proven by the constantly growing medium length of service of the employees, whose average figure currently amounts to 6 years. More than one-fourth of Bank Snoras employees have been working here for over 10 years.

Expansion
The bank has earned the reputation of an attractive, trustworthy and solid retail banking leader, while the difficult times not only offered challenges to the bank but also provided it with new opportunities which have been successfully used.

In September 2009, AB Bank Snoras group completed a transaction during which it at its own expense purchased 100 percent of shares of AB “Finasta imoniu finansai”, which owns AB Bank “Finasta”, as well as 100 percent of shares of the companies AB FMI “Finasta”, UAB “Invalda turto valdymas” and IPAS “Invalda Asset Management Latvia”. The transaction price was Ä13.25m.

The financial group “Finasta” was founded in 1993. Today it is the largest private banking and asset management group in the Baltic States. Its mission is to increase the clients’ asset value and to create top-quality solutions in the sphere of well-being, asset management, investment mediation and corporate finance.

The companies of “Finasta” group – which are the only investment bank in Lithuania, the fund management company with the largest number of clients and the brokerage company with the largest number of clients – increased the number of Bank Snoras group companies up to 25 and allowed becoming the leader of investment services provision and collective investment fund management as well as entering the promising and quickly developing pension fund market. At the present the clients can invest in 16 investment and eight pension funds.

After the transaction Bank Snoras group gained in the area of investment banking as solid positions as in retail banking: Bank Snoras group owns more than one-fifth of Lithuania’s investment funds market. According to the number of clients, the funds owned by “Finasta” occupy the first place in Lithuania, the funds clients constitute more than 2/3 of the market participants.    

Latvijas Krajbanka
AS “Latvijas Krajbanka” is a universal commercial bank offering modern technology based high quality services which are designated for companies and private clients in Latvia and abroad. “Latvijas Krajbanka” is a commercial bank enriched with traditions and it has been providing its services to the clients for more than 85 years. The bank started its activity in 1924 as the savings bank of the Latvian Post Office.

“Latvijas Krajbanka” has always been distinguished for a wide customer service network throughout Latvia which allows providing services to clients quickly and conveniently in all cities and regions within the country. Today there are 115 customer service centres with 34 mini-banks among them through-out Latvia. “Latvijas Krajbanka” occupies the first place among the Latvian commercial banks according to the number of the customer service centres. “Latvijas Krajbanka” has network of 194 ATMs and their number continues to grow. “Latvijas Krajbanka” is one of the largest banking services providers to private clients in Latvia. The bank services more than 91 percent of all privatization certificate accounts in Latvia. Also, “Latvijas Krajbanka” activity is intended to attract corporate clients by offering to them the banking services which comply with nowadays as well as tomorrow’s requirements.

For more information tel: +370 5 2327193; email: info@snoras.lt; www.snoras.com