Handelsbanken secured a banking licence for its UK subsidiary Handelsbanken PLC in December last year.

Highlights from Handelsbanken’s Q1 2019 results (compared with Q1 2018) include:

• UK income up 7% to £142.3m
• UK operating profit up 8% to £54.6m (excluding a one-off positive effect in 2018 related to a change in the pension plan — by including it, operating profit would be down by 13%)
• UK corporate lending up 9% to £14.4bn
• UK household lending (largely mortgages) up 4% to £6.7bn
• UK deposits up 11% to £14.6bn (household deposits up 7% to £4.6bn, corporate deposits up 13% to £10bn)
   

“Having converted our UK operations to a subsidiary, and gained our UK banking licence last December, our priority has been to build strong and stable foundations for long-term, sustainable growth,” said Mikael Sorensen, UK CEO at Handelsbanken.

“Strengthening our foundations for future growth allows us to pave a steady path, as we continue to focus on what we are good at: consistently meeting the ongoing demand we see for our distinctive model, delivered through the long-term, personal relationships we form with our customers.

“As we build a bank for the future, it is encouraging to see our quarterly results confirm the health and soundness of our approach.”

In a recent exclusive Specialist Banking interview with Andrew Rowlands, branch manager at Handelsbanken Marylebone, it was revealed that 90% of the bank’s facilities were agreed at branch level.