Citadele, a pan-Baltic bank, reported a 21% decrease in net profit for the first half of 2024, totalling €50.9 million compared to €64.5 million in the same period last year, BNS, a Baltic newswire, reported.

Citadele is primarily owned by a group of international investors led by the US fund Ripplewood Holdings, which holds a 75% stake, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns the remaining 25%.

Despite this decline, the bank's operating income rose by 2% to €116.1 million, with interest revenue increasing by 9% to €95.6 million.

The bank's total loan portfolio expanded by 7% to €3.05 billion by the end of June, although deposits decreased by 4% to €3.69 billion.

For 2023, Citadele distributed €50.6 million in dividends, equating to €0.32 per share. The bank had reported a net profit of €110 million for the previous year, a 2.2-fold increase from 2022, with operating income up by 39.1% to €234 million, BNS said.

In early 2024, the international credit rating agency Moody’s affirmed Citadele’s Baa2 credit rating and changed the outlook to positive.

The outlooks on the long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings were changed to positive from stable, reflecting Moody’s view that Citadele’s capital will continue to strengthen during the next 12 to 18 months, supported by higher sustained profitability and stable credit quality.

Upon affirmation of Citadele’s long-term Baa2 deposit rating and Baa3 senior unsecured debt rating, Moody’s has considered Citadele’s strong improvement in earnings during 2023 and forecast of continued strong earnings in coming quarters, increased capitalization and good credit quality.