On 20 April, TF Bank announced that Mattias Carlsson has been appointed the new CEO of the group. Mattias Carlsson, who has been working for TF Bank for almost 10 years, both as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, is looking forward to continue leading the company’s growth journey.
“It is a very exciting to see the bank in this phase of growth. We will continue to strengthen our market positioning in northern Europe through expanding and diversifying our business segments with a clear objective to increase the value for our shareholders”, said Mattias Carlsson.
“Not the least, with the acquisition of Avarda, we believe this will support our growth strategy,” he added.
What has made you go back to the CEO role?
“I have been the acting CEO of the bank since November 2017 and it has been most inspiring to be back in a more operational role after being a Chairman of the Board of Directors for a while, not least to mention the exciting work to execute the business strategy adopted by the Board of Directors during my time in the Board.”
Mattias Carlsson has a solid banking experience and was the CEO of TF Bank between 2009 and 2015 before becoming the Chairman of the Board of Directors. This was when the company initiated the listing process at Nasdaq Stockholm in June 2016. He has previously worked at different posts, among which, at SEB. Under his leadership, TF Bank has experienced very strong growth, which can be measured through increasing turnover, profitability and the size of the credit portfolio.
“We shall continue the growth momentum we have, and the long-term strategy of the bank shall be continued. It is very important to keep the business discipline we have and to keep our ears open to our customers’ demands and to what the regulatory authorities require. Since we are a small and flexible organization we can respond quickly, and this is a strength for TF Bank. Furthermore, we shall continue the integration effort with Avarda and identify synergies within TF Bank’s activities in order to deliver a good return.”
TF Bank is well established today in the Nordic countries, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Germany. Mattias Carlsson is looking forward to continuing the growth journey of this year, despite the fact that competition has become tough in Nordic markets, especially in Sweden and Finland.
“But we can also see good opportunities in this competitive environment. We can see greater opportunities outside the Nordic region with a growing market mainly in the Baltic countries. Therefore, we are working to strengthen our market share further in Estonia and Latvia and establish ourselves in the Lithuanian market. “
The Nomination Committee has nominated Mari Thjømøe as a new Chairman of the Board. How would you perceive the cooperation with her if she is elected at the AGM?
“I’m looking forward to that! Mari is very experienced and has served in several boards of directors in many big listed companies. She has a deep knowledge of investor relations and has a wide network of investors contacts. We complement each other very well, and it feels good to get that support.”
To conclude, why should you invest in TF Bank?
“The bank has a very good track record as a company. We have managed to create high returns for our shareholders for a long time. We have a growing market share mainly in the Baltic countries, where we had further strengthened our positioning, and therefore, we have a strong growth in the Consumer Lending segment. The acquisition of Avarda creates a good opportunity for us to continue the growth even within our second business segment of Ecommerce Solutions. We see significant increase in volume ahead of us in 2018 therefore there is good opportunity for us to continue delivering good returns to our shareholders.”