Second quarter 2009: Pre-provision income before one-off items increased by 33 per cent compared with 2008



"SEB generated overall strong income growth and strengthened its
customer franchise, particularly within wholesale banking. A robust
balance sheet with a strong Tier 1 capital ratio will enable us to
support our customers and reinforce SEB's market position in a
difficult macro environment", says Annika Falkengren, SEB's President
and CEO, commenting on today's interim report.

SEB's profit before provisions for credit losses and one-off items in
the second quarter 2009 amounted to SEK 5,256m, an increase of 33 per
cent compared with the second quarter of 2008 (3,954) and 10 per cent
higher than the previous quarter (4,780).

One-off items in the quarter were the capital gain of SEK 1,300m on
the partly repurchased own subordinated debt and the cost of SEK
2,317m from the write-off of all acquisition goodwill in the Baltic
countries, which shall be seen in the light of the severe economic
situation with lower lending volumes and a sharp increase of impaired
loans. Also the acquisition goodwill of SEK 77m related to Russia has
been written-off.

Including these one-off items the profit before provisions for credit
losses amounted to SEK 4,162m (3,954). Operating profit was SEK 618m
(3,507).

Operating income increased by 27 per cent to SEK 13,174m compared
with the second quarter last year; excluding the capital gain by 14
per cent. Net interest income improved by 21 per cent and other
income items by 9 per cent on an aggregated level excluding the
capital gain. The corresponding numbers compared with the previous
quarter was a decrease on net interest income by 9 per cent and an
increase of other income items by 18 per cent on an aggregated basis.

Operating expenses amounted to SEK 6,618m, an increase of 3 per cent
compared with the corresponding quarter of 2008, excluding goodwill
impairment charges. Compared with the previous quarter costs
decreased slightly.

Provisions for credit losses increased to SEK 3,567m, of which the
majority was collective. The Baltic countries accounted for SEK
2,642m of the provisions. The credit loss level was 1.07 per cent
(0.17). The Group's total reserve ratio was 72 per cent.

Tier I capital ratio was 13.1 per cent (10.2).



SEB is a North European financial group serving some 400,000
corporate customers and institutions and five million private
individuals. SEB offers universal banking services in Sweden, Germany
and the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It also has
local presence in the other Nordic countries, Poland, Ukraine and
Russia and a global presence through its international network in
major financial centers. On 30 June 2009, the Group's total assets
amounted to SEK 2,374bn (~EUR 220bn) while its assets under
management totalled SEK 1,267bn (~EUR 120bn).The Group has about
20,500 employees. Read more about SEB at www.sebgroup.com.

_____________________________________________
For further information, please contact:
Jan Erik Back, CFO, +46 8 22 19 00
Ulf Grunnesjö, Head of Investor Relations, +46 8 763 85 01; +46
70 763 85 01
Odd Eiken, Head of Group Marketing & Communication, +46 6 763 87 30,
+46 70-763 87 30
Annika Halldin, Senior Financial Information Officer, +46 763 85 60;
+46 70 379 00 60

Attachments

Additional Information Jan-June 2009.pdf Interim report January-June 2009.pdf