Comments from the Managing Director
Growing customer base and strong net inflow
”We experience the strong growth in savings capital of 22 percent since the beginning of the year as something which is especially positive, not the least as there is a long term relationship between growth in savings capital and growth in operating income. We have continued to strengthen our communication to existing customers regarding new savings forms and investment alternatives, which has resulted in increased deposits and a broader involvement with our existing customers. This is a major contributing factor to the increase in net inflow, in combination with a continued solid growth in new customers.
The inflow of 8,600 new customers during the third quarter is twice as large compared with the same period last year. In 2013, we have expanded with 23,600 new customers, and with a strong end to the year we have a good possibility to exceed our long-term goal of growing by 20,000–30,000 customers per year. We see the results of this strong customer inflow, as well as increased deposits from existing customers, in the net inflow, which has increased by 112 percent compared with the same period last year.
Increased customer activity and good cost control behind the improved results
During the third quarter, profit before taxes grew by MSEK 73, compared with MSEK 55 in the same period last year (excluding items affecting comparability), or an increase of 33 percent. This implies that during the third quarter, we rebounded from the dip in earnings during the first half of the year, primarily due to increased customer activity, in combination with a growing customer base and strong cost control.
If 2012 was a wait-and-watch year in terms of savings behaviour due to the continued uncertainty in Europe, China and the US, with more secure investments in fixed interest funds, exchange-traded credit-linked notes and saving accounts, 2013 has proven to show an increased risk appetite amongst savers. This is seen, not the least, in a notable move towards mutual funds since the beginning of the year. The total inflow in funds has been four times as high this quarter as in the same period last year. Trading in shares has also increased gradually during the third quarter, which is a sign that the savers dare to believe, once again, in the stock exchange; a stock exchange which has shown a positive development during the last year, in spite of macro political worries. But, still, there remain a number of uncertainties. The market is still vulnerable to negative news and can swing again. Many questions continue to be unanswered: Will the US succeed in agreeing on an increase in the debt ceiling and how will Europe solve its growth problems with continued turbulence in, amongst other economies, Italy and Greece. We have, already in the beginning of October, seen, again, some degree of movement from stocks towards fixed income, at the same time, the trading activity on the stock exchange has declined a bit compared with September.
After launching the new site and underlying systems at the end of the second quarter, we can already see positive effects on the cost side. Costs during the third quarter should, however, be seen in light of the necessary breathing space we experienced during the summer, during which we consumed fewer resources than normal in the follow-up to the site launch. We are now up to full speed again and expect to maintain cost level during the second half of the year, more or less, unchanged compared with the previous year. With our new site in place, we will now focus our energy on creating Sweden’s best consumer site for savings and investments. Our savers can look forward to a number of new products already within the next two quarters.
We look forward to an exciting end to the year!”
Stockholm, 16 October 2013
Martin Tivéus, Managing Director Avanza Bank
The information contained in this report comprises information that Avanza Bank Holding AB (publ.) is obliged to provide as well as that which it has chosen to provide in accordance with the provisions of the Swedish Securities Market Act and the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information has been released to the market for publication at 08.15 (CET) on 16 October 2013.
