Nordea Bank Estonia Announces Record Profits
One of Estonia's largest financial institutions, Nordea Bank Estonia, finished 2010 with a profit of nearly 25 million euros, according to a statement released by the bank.
Nordea's income increased by 24 percent over the year, while operating profit grew by 26 percent to reach 41 million euros, the best financial performance the bank has ever achieved.
"Nordea Bank Estonia is growing rapidly. This is despite the general downturn in the market. Last year, thanks to increased revenues, we achieved the best result for all times, which confirms the validity of [the bank's] strategy of stable growth, both under conditions of economic downturn and under conditions of economic improvement," said Vahur Kraft, head of Nordea Pank Estonia.
Kraft noted that one of the bank's major achievements of last year was becoming the second largest player in the country's business loan market, where it ended the year with a market share of 20.5 percent.
At the end of December the bank's assets stood at 3.1 billion euros, the third largest in the Estonian banking sector.