Oma Savings Bank Plc's Financial Statements Release 1 January - 31 December 2019

Best result in history

OMA SAVINGS BANK PLC, STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 17 FEBRUARY 2020 AT 10.30 A.M. EET, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE

Oma Savings Bank Plc’s Financial Statements Release 1 January – 31 December 2019: Best result in history

This release is a summary of Oma Savings Bank’s (OmaSp) January-December 2019 Financial Statements Release, which can be read from the pdf file attached to this stock exchange release and on the company’s web pages www.omasp.fi

CEO Pasi Sydänlammi: Best result in history

The year was a success and we achieved our best result in the history. We succeeded in increasing our operating income by 21.9% and our balance sheet increased during the accounting period by more than 17%, coming to almost EUR 3.5 billion. The sale of Samlink’s shares increased returns by EUR 5.3 million. The cost structure was impacted by, amongst other things, the investments in new offices and non-recurring costs for co-operation negotiations. Our profit before taxes for January–December was EUR 32.7 million, up 30.9%. Our comparative profit before taxes grew by 7.0% and was EUR 28.0 million.

The final quarter of the year was good, as expected, and we gave a positive profit warning concerning the earnings outlook for the entire accounting period. We increased operating income by 26.0% and at the same time we were able to curb the growth of operating expenses. Demand for home mortgages and corporate credit continued to be strong and the average loan margin remained practically unchanged. During the fourth quarter, changes were made to the calculation of expected credit losses with an impact of EUR -0.9 million. The Q4 profit before taxes grew 25.0% and was EUR 5.6 million. The comparative profit decreased by 11.4% to EUR 5.8 million.

Focusing on improving competitiveness
We have strengthened our position in key growth centres in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Oulu and Turku. We moved into the new OmaSp bank building in Seinäjoki in December. As a result of the co-operation negotiations, which ended in December, a decision was made to merge six smaller office branches with nearby full-service branches.

We continuously explore the growth drivers of business and one key viewpoint is the continuous improvement of customer service. Development of digital services continues determinedly, and during the end of the year, new products were launched especially in mobile payments.

The development project for the next-generation banking platform has been ongoing for just under a year. For customers, the renewal of the banking platform based on Temenos technology means new products and services at a faster pace and an improved service experience in our diverse service channels.