Handelsbanken Lincoln reports Handelsbanken’s continued growth in 2019 annual results

Local relationship bank, Handelsbanken, has announced its 2019 annual results, showing consistent year-on-year growth driven by its ongoing commitment to long-term sustainable values, and a focus on delivering high levels of customer satisfaction, through its decentralised network of over 200 branches across the UK.

In its first year as a fully-licensed UK bank, Handelsbanken has continued to invest in its UK infrastructure, strengthening its foundations for continued growth and securing its long-term presence in the UK.

Meanwhile the Bank’s commitment to its local relationship banking model which places a predominant focus on providing high levels of bespoke customer service, has helped branches like Handelsbanken Lincoln achieve consistent and profitable growth throughout the year.

This has meant that, for 2019, the Bank’s UK business reported 5 per cent growth in net lending to both individual and corporate customers to £21.4bn, with customer deposits rising 10 per cent to £15.3bn.

The Bank saw particularly strong growth in corporate deposits, up 14 per cent to £10.5bn, while household deposits also increased by 4 per cent to £4.8bn. Operating profit increased by 4 per cent to £222.8m and income increased by 4 per cent to £582.3m.

Run by a team of 9 experienced local bankers, Handelsbanken Lincoln forms long-term, personal relationships with individuals and businesses in the local Lincolnshire area, helping them with their banking requirements.

Handelsbanken customers enjoy direct access to experienced branch teams who are empowered to make decisions locally and deliver high levels of customer satisfaction, without the presence of product or sales targets.

John Gell, branch manager of Handelsbanken’s Lincoln comments: “Locally in Lincoln we mirror the performance of the wider bank in the UK despite facing a number of hurdles in 2019, we continue to grow by gaining customers with stable cash flows who want a long-term relationship with their bank.”

Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO, says: “2019 was an exciting year in the development of Handelsbanken, marking our first full year as a UK licensed bank. Over the course of the last year we have continued to consolidate our business, investing further in developing the systems, infrastructure and expertise that have helped us build the foundations for future growth.

“Maintaining consistent growth in our business volumes, whilst undergoing this period of change demonstrates the strength of Handelsbanken’s local relationship banking proposition, and is testament to the hard work and unwavering commitment of our colleagues up and down the country.

“The investments we are making in our business mean we are now in an even stronger position to take full advantage of the strong growth potential we see in the UK. We have been here for almost four decades, but the truth is we are only just getting started. We look forward to providing our services to more and more customers who share our long-term thinking and sustainable values.”

Handelsbanken’s successful formula has, for the third time, led to the Bank topping recommendations for its services in four of the five categories of the Competition and Markets Authority’s independent service quality survey for business banking, the results of which were published in August 2019². And for the eleventh year in a row, Handelsbanken has been top-ranked for satisfaction, for both personal and business banking, in an independent survey of British bank customers³.

Businesses and individuals can contact Handelsbanken’s Lincoln branch by calling 01522 688440 or by visiting 5 Doddington Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QR.

Handelsbanken plc has been assigned a long term credit rating of AA with a stable outlook by international credit ratings agency, Fitch; and a long term credit rating of AA- by Standard & Poor’s. The ratings are the same as those given for the subsidiary’s Swedish parent, Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ), and confirm the Bank’s strength, stability and creditworthiness.