In English | På svenska
2004 was a successful year for Swedish exports which resulted in high demand for export financing. In other respects the financial markets were characterized by high liquidity and intense competition. To a large extent companies have good liquidity which led to a growing number of self-financed investments and loan repayments. Corporate demand for financial solutions, excluding export credits, was therefore low, while regional and local authorities continued to have extensive financing requirements for infrastructure investments. In this market situation, SEK had an active and successful year.
Peter Yngwe, President: "SEK's contribution to Swedish exports and corporate financing has been good. SEK's operating profit, including a recovered credit loss, reached Skr 611.8 million, which should be compared with Skr 595.3 million for 2003. The volume of customer-related financial solutions has never been higher: Skr 27.5 billion, an increase of Skr 4.3 billion over the previous year. The initiative and innovative thinking of our employees made 2004 a record year."
Credit volumes increased within all areas during 2004. Export credits rose by Skr 0.7 billion to Skr 6.8 billion in 2004, while lending to the municipal sector increased by Skr 0.8 billion to Skr 5.8 billion. There was also a marked increase in other lending to the private sector from Skr 7.9 billion to Skr 10.1 billion for 2004. The positive development of our operations in Finland and within the subsidiaries SEK Securities and SEK Advisory Services continues.
Our extensive lending during the year has required active borrowing. Among other things, SEK has carried out two major and highly interesting capital market transactions, including our largest-ever bond issue. The issue amount was EUR 1 billion and most of the investors were based in Europe and Asia. Later in the year, we issued our second global bond denominated in USD for USD 1 billion. "These deals show that we have a well-diversified portfolio with investors geographically evenly distributed throughout the world. This gives us a stable foundation for both future borrowing and lending", says Peter Yngwe.
Read the Year end report here
For additional information, please contact:
Peter Yngwe, President, + 46 8 613 83 70 Lars M Andersson, Head of Communications, +46 8 613 84 05