Company briefs 0 2011-03-31

South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung Electronics’ consolidated revenue grew 13 percent last year, reaching an all-time high of 68.8 billion lats (98.2 billion euros), said Latvian subsidiary spokesperson Diana Dzene, reports Nozare.lv. The company’s net profit was also a record high - 7.1 billion lats, said Dzene. Samsung turnover in the Baltic States was also impressive, reaching115.7 million lats, which is 35 percent more than in 2009. Samsung Electronic Baltics President Sangho Jo said that Samsung has an ambitious plan to increase the company’s sales by 50 percent this year to become the leading brand in the Baltic electronics market. Public research company GFK reports that Samsung Electronic Baltics is already the leader in refrigerator and washing machines sales.

The Latvian banking sector was profitable in February for the second month in a row, with the sector’s total profit for the first two months at 18.9 million lats (27 million euros), says Financial and Capital Market Commission representative Anna Dravniece, reports Nozare.lv. In February 2010, the banking sector’s total losses stood at 59.2 million lats. By the end of February, the total amount of deposits at Latvian banks increased to 10.8 billion lats. Loan portfolios of five Latvian banks and two foreign banks’ branches increased in February, however, the banking sector’s total loan portfolio shrunk 1 percent, or 143.6 million lats, to 14 billion lats at the end of February. The amount of delinquent loans also continued to decrease, while bank provisions for ‘bad’ loans remained largely unchanged in February at 1.6 billion lats, or 11.5 percent of banks’ total loan portfolio.