SBAB Bank’s CEO, Carl-Viggo Östlund, comments:
SBAB Bank displayed a strong performance in the first quarter, with increases in net interest income and in earnings from under­lying business operations compared with the corresponding period in 2011. This increase was mainly due to stronger demand, higher average volumes and improved earnings in the lending operations. However, the market value of financial instruments resulted in unrealised negative effects on operating profit, which, along with development costs, was the main reason for the loss we reported.

In January and February, the market for retail deposits rose SEK 6.5 billion, with SBAB Bank accounting for 29 percent of this increase. In March, SBAB Bank’s retail deposits rose SEK 1.4 billion. These highly robust figures demonstrate that our strategy of offering straightforward and clear savings accounts and a competitive savings rate has been successful.

The recent discussions regarding the transparency of margins on...