Finnish banks operating profit increased 0.6 billion

During the past year, the banking business in Finland managed to recover largely from the disaster caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The operating profit of financial institutions has not yet reached the level prior to Covid-19, but it has managed to improve compared to one year before.

According to Statistics Finland's fresh data on credit institutions, the operating profit and net income of credit institutions engaged in banking in Finland amounted to 1.2 billion euros in the first quarter of 2021.

The operating profit, or profit from continuing operations before taxes increased by 0.6 billion euros from the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

In the first quarter of 2021, credit institutions engaged in banking in Finland accumulated 1.6 billion euros in interest income, which was 0.2 billion less than in the corresponding quarter in the year before. Interest expenses, in turn, amounted to 0.4 billion in the first quarter, which is around 0.3 billion less than one year earlier.

Source: Statistics Finland.

Net income growth

The net income from financial operations calculated as the difference between these was 1.2 billion. The net income from financial operations grew by 4.6% from the respective quarter of the year before, or by around 52 million euros.

In the first quarter, banks had 1.4 billion euros in administrative expenses, which was around 150 million less than in the corresponding quarter of the year before. Wages and salaries made up 0.8 billion, or 59.2% of administrative expenses.

The aggregate value of the balance sheets of banks was 788 billion euros at the end of the first quarter. The value of the balance sheets grew by 40 billion, or by around 5.5% from the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

The combined equity amounted to 46 billion euros, which was 6.8%, or around 3 billion more than one year earlier. On average, equity made up 5.9% of the aggregate of the balance sheets for all banks operating in Finland.