p>During this period, the Citadele Group's profit increased by 30 %, compared to 1Q 2014, reaching EUR 7.6 million. Having its new shareholders on board, the Citadele Group continues development, successfully working on the improvement of service and financial performance.
We have started working on our long-term strategy to provide our customers with services in the most convenient way for them," comments Guntis Beļavskis, Chairman of Citadele banka's Board. "This year, we are continuing to issue loans to corporate and retail clients, thus bringing their ideas to life. We are developing proposals in the payment card sector through cooperating with our exclusive partner American Express®. We are one of the market leaders in terms of investment services: enabling clients possessing various asset amounts to use investment advantages for accruing and multiplying their financial resources. As deposit rates are low in the market, we have expanded our investment services."
Small and medium-sized corporate lending is one of Citadele banka's priorities. In the first quarter of 2015, the largest number of new loan agreements of Citadele banka in Latvia (64 %) were signed with companies that represent agriculture and trade sectors.
In the beginning of this year, Citadele was the first commercial bank in Latvia to launch participation in government-supported home purchase program for families with children, and to start issuing government-guaranteed mortgage loans. This enables families with children to receive mortgage loans with lower down payments, formerly the most significant obstacle for purchasing homes.
The demand for mortgage loans with easier down payment terms was high: during the first five days after announcing the program, more than 800 families signed up for consultations at Citadele to learn about their opportunities to receive mortgage loans. In the first quarter of the year, Citadele granted 64 mortgage loans within the scope of the government-supported home purchase program for families with children.
In 1Q 2015, the number of Citadele banka's issued payment cards increased by 27 %, compared to 1Q 2014. The bank continued facilitating payments using payments cards through expanding cooperation with sellers. Discounts for using payment cards as a means of payment, as well as other special offers, form a significant part of Citadele's benefits for clients.
Citadele's client deposit portfolio in the investment services segment increased by 4 % in the first quarter of 2015, reaching EUR 0.9 billion Citadele banka's subsidiary IPAS CBL Asset Management is one of the leading asset management companies in Latvia.
As a result of successful operation, the Citadele Group finished 1Q of 2015 with an own capital of EUR 189 million; this is an increase of 7 % compared to the end of 2014 (bank: EUR 179 million, an increase of 4 %).
The bank's and its new shareholders' vision is to develop Citadele into the leading bank in Latvia in terms of quality and diversity of products.
1st Quarter 2015 public financial information full version.