Bigbank posts strong 6-months results: quarterly growth again over 10 percent
Bigbank, an Estonian credit institution with international reach, earned a profit of 7.7 million euros in the second quarter 2022, increasing the volume of assets 13% to nearly 1.435 billion euros quarter on quarter. Compared to the first quarter, growth was rapid both in the volume of customer loans (+10.9%) and deposits (+15%).
According to Martin Länts, Chairman of the Management Board of Bigbank, the results of Bigbank are very good despite the war in Ukraine and energy crisis, which is creating instability in the European economic environment. “Bigbank has managed to increase market share thanks to its good value proposition and has continued robust growth. Strong organisation has enabled to keep costs under control and to increase revenues, resulting in 29% increase in the first-half net profit amounting to 14.1 million euros,” said Länts, commenting the current market situation.
Among the most important events in the first half of the year, Länts highlighted the investment grade rating assigned by Moody’s. “The investment-grade rating is assurance to our current depositors and partners about Bigbank’s operating model and the quality of our portfolio as well as supports our further international expansion,” he noted.
In the second quarter, the corporate loan portfolio of Bigbank increased by 53.9 million euros, or 19.8%, compared to the first quarter. The growth was mainly driven by long-term investment loans issued in Estonia and Lithuania for the acquisition of commercial real estate and in the agricultural and forestry sector. In the second quarter, the volume of new corporate loans and leases increased by 82% compared to the second quarter of last year and amounted to 99.1 million euros.
The portfolio of loans to private individuals has grown significantly due to the rise in the volume of housing loans. In the first half of 2022, the volume of housing loans granted by Bigbank was 3.5 times larger than in the same period a year earlier. In the second quarter, the share of housing loans issued with a special repayment schedule also increased significantly in Estonia – for example, in June, one in four borrowers preferred a special repayment schedule that allows the payment of the principal of the housing loan to be postponed for up to 20 years.
Bigbank's rapid growth has also been supported by an increase in the number of employees. The group employs almost 500 people and the number of employees has increased by 7% in the last six months.
Bigbank is an Estonian credit institution with International reach that specialises in consumer loans and whose volume of assets and loan portfolio exceed 1 billion euros.