The consolidated net profit of AS LHV Group in 2022 was EUR 61.4 million, which constitutes EUR 1.2 million more than in 2021 (+2%). The return on equity attributable to the shareholders of LHV Group was 16.4% in 2022.

Within the year, AS LHV Pank earned EUR 80.9 million in net profit, including EUR 13.0 million from servicing clients related to the United Kingdom branch. Over the year, the Bank’s profit increased by EUR 16.8 million (+26%). In 2022, AS LHV Varahaldus generated EUR 103 thousand in net loss, and AS LHV Kindlustus generated EUR 1.7 million in net loss. The net loss of LHV UK Limited in 2022 due to costs related to the preparation of the banking licence amounted to EUR 11.7 million.

In 2022, the consolidated revenues of the Group amounted to EUR 173.5 million, i.e. an increase of 24% compared to 2021. At the same time, the total amount of interest income turned out to be EUR 129.1 million (+33% year-on-year growth) and fee and commission income totalled EUR 44.9 million (+3%). In 2022, the consolidated costs of the Group amounted to EUR 89.6 million in total, referring to an increase of 38% compared to the previous year.

By the end of 2022, the consolidated assets of LHV Group stood at EUR 6.14 billion euros, declining by EUR 710 million (-10%) over the year.

Over the year, the consolidated deposits of the Group, mainly with financial intermediaries, decreased by EUR 907 million (-16%) to EUR 4.9 billion. In Q4, the consolidated deposits of the Group decreased by EUR 268 million (-5%; EUR -198 million in Q3). At the same time, deposits of regular clients decreased by EUR 27 million over the quarter, while deposits of financial intermediaries fell by EUR 241 million.

The consolidated loan portfolio increased by a total of EUR 531 million (+20%) in 2022. During Q4, the volume of loans increased by EUR 114 million to EUR 3.21 billion (+4%; EUR +170 million in Q3). Of the increase in the portfolio, EUR 58 million came from the Bank’s retail loans and EUR 34 million from corporate banking loans, while EUR 22 million from loans in the United Kingdom.

The aggregate volume of funds managed by LHV decreased by EUR 17 million to EUR 1.33 billion (-1%) in 2022. In Q4, the volume of funds increased by EUR 66 million (+5%; EUR +7 million in Q3).

The total annual number of processed payments related to clients who were financial intermediaries was 26.1 million payments, i.e. 1.3 million fewer than in 2021 (-5%). The number of payments by financial intermediaries reached 7.3 million in Q4 (+26% compared to 5.68 million payments in Q3).

In Q4 2022, AS LHV Group earned EUR 24.3 million in consolidated net profit. In Q4, AS LHV Pank generated EUR 29.9 million in net profit, of which EUR 5.3 million was from servicing clients related to the United Kingdom branch. AS LHV Varahaldus earned a net profit of EUR 0.5 million for the quarter. AS LHV Kindlustus had a net loss of EUR 0.5 million and LHV UK Limited of EUR 5.1 million in Q4. The Group’s return on equity (ROE) in Q4 was 24%.

In the last few months of the year, the Bank’s interest income increased significantly, while at the same time the loan portfolio remained of high quality, resulting in the best quarter in history for LHV Group and LHV Pank. The Group’s net profit increased by EUR 13.6 million (+126%) compared to the previous quarter and by EUR 5.0 million (+26%) compared to a year ago.

For LHV, the end of the year was characterised by an increase in interest income and the continued high quality of the loan portfolio, despite a weakening economic environment. As a result, the Group met its profitability target for the year. Costs higher than the financial plan were mainly due to the recruitment of risk units and the addition of EveryPay to the Group in April.

The year was a successful one for LHV Pank. The number of bank clients increased by more than 56,000 (+18%) to 378,000 clients. At the same time, approximately 14,000 bank clients were added in Q4. Client activity in terms of settlement and card usage remained at a good level. However, the clients’ demand for credit declined significantly in Q4.

In 2022, LHV financed the economy with EUR 1.73 billion in total. During the year, the Bank’s home loan portfolio exceeded EUR 1 billion. 16% of all new home loans were for energy class A housing. The quality of the loan portfolio is strong, with only a few clients under monitoring.

The decrease in deposits in 2022 was mainly related to a larger-than-expected decrease of EUR 970 million in deposits from financial intermediaries. The rapidly changing interest rate environment has significantly shifted the Bank’s focus towards involvement of deposits.

Throughout the year, LHV as the market leader was an active provider of investment services. In 2022, the clients of LHV Pank performed transactions worth EUR 490 million on the Baltic stock exchanges, which accounted for 39% of the total turnover of the Baltic stock exchanges. At the same time, the clients of LHV forwarded more than EUR 150 million into new investments during the year, of which nearly EUR 50 million were forwarded into shares in Baltic companies.

In Q4, the Bank was recognised several times. According to a survey carried out by CVKeskus.ee, LHV Pank was the most attractive employer in Estonia in 2022. Furthermore, an international banking magazine, The Banker, named LHV Pank the best bank in Estonia for the fourth year in a row.

By the end of the year, AS LHV Pank exceeded its financial targets by EUR 10.5 million. In terms of net profit and 32.2% ROE, the last quarter of the year was the strongest in the Bank’s history.

The end of the year was a successful for LHV Varahaldus, as the actively managed pension funds M, L, and XL were the only II pillar funds in Estonia to offer positive rate of return for the year as a whole. In Q4, the rate of return of these funds were 1.6%, 2.8%, and 4.9%, respectively. In general, the quarter was another challenging one for equity markets, expressed in lower rate of return for passively managed funds. The number of active II pillar clients continued to grow, with nearly 2,000 new clients added over the quarter. However, for the year as a whole, the number of active pension clients decreased by 8,000.

By the end of the year, the market share of pension funds of LHV Varahaldus by volume was more than 31%, while its market share by number of clients remained at 25%. LHV Varahaldus ended the year with a minor loss. While operating revenues were broadly in line with the financial plan, operating expenses were somewhat higher, mainly due to the withdrawals from the II pillar. Actively managed pension funds did not outperform the benchmark in 2022, therefore, no performance fee was earned.

LHV Kindlustus continued to grow business volumes with a high 97% client satisfaction rate with claims handling. Earned premia are also steadily increasing. Health insurance was added to the product portfolio in Q4. Sales results were good for the end of the year, but weather-related insurance losses also increased. The company fell short of its financial plan for the year as a whole, mainly due to higher than planned losses incurred.

In the United Kingdom, in addition to applying for a banking licence, LHV UK Limited continued its active business development and commenced lending activities following the acquisition of a EUR 21 million loan portfolio. Loans starting from GBP 0.5 million are secured by commercial real estate and other collateral.

Q4 also saw the strengthening of the Group’s capitalisation through the mobilisation of EUR 88 million of MREL liabilities and EUR 20 million of additional core capital. As a major change, LHV went under the direct supervision of the European Central Bank at the beginning of 2023.

Comment by Madis Toomsalu, the CEO of LHV Group:
"As a result of the rapid price rise, the Estonian economy has entered recession. Eurozone countries and the United Kingdom also face the same risk. The decline in the sense of confidence, accompanied by rising costs, does not leave the decisions of home buyers or business investment plans unaffected. Increased interest rates to curb price rise have ended the previous era of zero interest rates, which has been an anomaly and a false incentive for economic decisions. The tightening of financial policy has put banks under renewed pressure for deposits and imposed increased capital requirements on banks.
In a contrasting economic environment, LHV has continued to finance the Estonian economy. In 2022, we provided Estonian companies with corporate loans in the amount of EUR 1.31 billion and private persons with EUR 420 million. At the same time, we issued 16% of all new home loans for energy class A housing. We started our loan activities in the United Kingdom. During the year, we processed more than 50 million payments, and by the end of the year, 34% of e-merchants were using the LHV payment collection service."

AS LHV Group reports are available at: https://investor.lhv.ee/en/reports/.

LHV Group will disclose the new financial plan for 2023, with a five-year forecast, on 14 February.

In order to introduce the quarterly and 12-month results, LHV Group will be organising an investor meeting via the Zoom webinar environment. The virtual investor meeting will take place on 7 February at 9.00, before the market opens. The presentation will be in Estonian. We kindly ask you to register at the following address: https://lhvbank.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YX3_I6cEQZac98aB5eJOJw.

LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, and LHV Kindlustus. The Group employs more than 880 people. As at the end of December, LHV’s banking services are being used by 378,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 131,000 active clients, and LHV Kindlustus protects a total of 150,000 clients. LHV’s UK branch offers banking infrastructure to 200 international financial services companies, via which LHV’s payment services reach clients around the world.

Priit Rum
LHV Communication Manager
Phone: +372 502 0786
Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee

Attachments

• LHV Group Factbook 2022-Q4-EN.pdf

• LHV Group Interim Report 2022-Q4-EN

• LHV Group Presentation 2022-Q4-EN