- Operating income increased << by 1 per cent (–9 %) to SEK 515 million (SEK 509 m) - The profit after tax increased by 23 per cent (–21 %) to SEK 228 million (SEK 185 m) - Earnings per share incresaed by 22 per cent (–20 %) to SEK 8.27 (6.78) - Net savings totalled to SEK 9,950 million (SEK 6,760 m), corresponding to 29 per cent (15 %) of savings capital at the beginning of the year - The number of accounts increased by 23 per cent (37 %) to 279,000 (226,000), and the total savings capital increased by 77 per cent (–25 %) to SEK 61,300 million (SEK 34,600 m) - The Board proposes that a dividend of SEK 8.00 (SEK 6.00) per share be paid Fourth quarter - Operating income increased by 17 per cent (–18 %) to SEK 145 million (SEK 124 m) - The profit after tax increased by 64 per cent (–41 %) to SEK 64 million (SEK 39 m) - Earnings per share increased by 62 per cent (–40 %) to SEK 2.31 (SEK 1.43) Preliminary Financial Statement, 2009 Comments from the Managing Director “Earnings per share increased in 2009 by 22 per cent to SEK 8.27 per share. The profit before tax increased to SEK 280 million, despite key interest rates of almost zero resulting in a fall of SEK 75 million in net interest items during the year. The explanation for this lies in a number of factors: we have cut costs according to plan by 13 per cent during the year, the upturn in the stock market put some real wind into our sails, and net savings with Avanza Bank reached record levels during the year,” says Nicklas Storåkers, Managing Director of Avanza Bank. “Avanza Bank’s net savings increased dramatically in 2009 to almost SEK 10,000 million, which is estimated to correspond to around 5 per cent of the total net flow into the savings market in Sweden. Avanza Bank’s market share of the existing savings market during the year is consequently estimated to have increased from 1.2 per cent to around 1.7 per cent. Net savings with Avanza Bank during the first half of January 2010 totalled SEK 1,330 million.” “The high level of net savings means that there is still plenty of potential for taking market shares quickly, in our opinion, which is why we have choosed to invest even more and expect costs to increase by around 25 per cent in 2010. Approximately 60 per cent of the cost increase refers to offensive expansion of IT and website development resources. We are concerned to protect Avanza Bank’s status as the bank with the market’s highest level of cost effectiveness and our ambition, post-2010, is to return to a more normal rate of cost increases of between 15 and 20 per cent per annum.” “There is a strong link between strong growth in savings capital and growth in income. By the turn of the year, Avanza Bank’s savings capital totalled SEK 61,300 million which is up 77 per cent on the previous year. We believe, therefore, that despite what we expect to be significant pricing pressure, we have excellent potential in 2010 for achieving our long-term goal of a growth in profit of 15–20 per cent per annum, given a normal stock market performance.” For additional information: Nicklas Storåkers, Managing Director of Avanza Bank, tel: +46 (0)70 861 80 01 Birgitta Hagenfeldt, CFO of Avanza Bank, tel: +46 (0)73 661 80 04
