Total assets of Handelsbanken 2009-2019

The value of Handelsbanken’s total assets increased overall during the period considered in this chart. The bank’s assets value fluctuated from 2009 to 2015, but increased steadily in the following years, reaching the highest value of more than three trillion Swedish kronor in 2019. This makes Handelsbanken the largest bank in Sweden, followed by SEB and Swedbank.

Handelsbanken’s position on the Swedish market

   Handelsbanken was also the bank in Sweden which held the highest share of loans. In 2018, the bank held 22 percent of the total bank loans in the country, followed closely by Swedbank, which held 21 percent, and then by SEB, which held 15 percent of the loans. Handelsbanken, however, was not the leading bank for large corporations in Sweden as of 2020. This position was held by the former Sweden-based (now Finland-based) bank Nordea, with a market penetration rate of 83 percent. Handelsbanken was the third leading bank for large corporations and had a market penetration rate of 63 percent.

Handelsbanken’s cost/income ratio

   Cost/income ratio is a standard measure to gauge the profitability of a bank and is calculated by dividing operating expenses by operating income. Handelsbanken’s cost/income ratio was relatively stable during the period from 2009 to 2019 but was generally lower during the years from 2014 to 2017, before it started to increase. In 2019, the bank’s cost/income ratio was 48.8 percent, which is the highest registered during the observed period, indicating a decline in the bank’s cost-efficiency.