Latvian banks gain 9 pct profit in 2016

Latvian banks raised their aggregate annual profit by 9.0 percent last year, earning 453.8 million euros (485 million U.S. dollars) among them, the national banking regulator said.

According to preliminary data released on Friday by the Financial and Capital Market Commission, all 16 Latvian banks and three of the seven branches of foreign banks operating in Latvia closed 2016 in the black.

The Latvian banking sector has been showing steady profit growth in recent years. Recovering from three years of losses, the Baltic country's banking sector earned 246.2 million euros in 2013, 311 million euros in 2014 and 416 million euros in 2015.

In 2016, Latvian banks' profits were also helped by a one-off event as Visa Inc. bought up Visa Europe shares from banks.

During 2016, deposits in Latvia's banks contracted by 8.0 percent, from 23.26 billion euros to 21.4 billion euros.

The banking sector's loan portfolio expanded by 3.0 percent over the past year, to 15.13 billion euros, with the amount of household loans declining 0.23 percent to 5.58 billion euros at the end of last year. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars) Endit