DNB Bank ASA has decided to initiate a share buy-back programme comprising up to 1.0 percent of the company’s own shares, which represents a total of 14,925,301 shares. The buy-back programme was adopted based on an authorisation given by the Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 2024. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has approved the buy-back programme, on the condition that the total buy-backs do not reduce the company’s own funds by more than NOK 3,358 million.

The purpose of the buy-back programme is to optimise the company’s capital structure, by reducing the common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio by approximately 0.30 percentage points.

Up to 0.66 percent of the company’s own shares, which equals 9,850,699 shares, will be bought back on trading venues, at a price of between NOK 10 and NOK 300 per share. The buy-backs will, at the latest, end on 13 September 2024. DNB Markets will manage the buy-backs on behalf of the company, and will decide the timing of the purchases independently of the company. The shares that are purchased will be proposed cancelled at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.  

The remaining 0.34 percent of the shares – up to 5,074,602 shares – will at the same Annual General Meeting be proposed redeemed from the Norwegian Government, represented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (“NFD”), so that NFD’s ownership interest of 34 percent remains unchanged. NFD’s shares will be redeemed at a price equal to the average price of the shares bought back on trading venues, with the addition of an interest compensation.

The buy-back programme will be carried out in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation and the regulation regarding buy-back programmes and stabilisation measures.

For further information, please contact Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, on +47 23 26 84 00 or +47 97 71 32 50. 

This announcement contains information that is subject to disclosure requirements pursuant to the Market Abuse Regulation and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

On 13 March 2024, the Board of Directors of DNB Bank ASA decided to offer employees in DNB Bank ASA shares with a discount of up to 25 % (up to NOK 15,400 per employee). 

The shares were allotted today, 16 May 2024, at a gross price of NOK 201.1877 per share. 

Please see attachment for further details regarding the primary insiders that made use of the offer.  

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to MAR article 19 and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

DNB is today making changes to its organisation and Group Management team. 

“In DNB, a total of 10 964 employees put in a tremendous effort every day. Now we are reorganising DNB to be ready for the next stage of our journey, to deliver even better value for our customers,” says Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kjerstin Braathen. 

The following changes apply from today, 6 May: 

• Business Banking Norway will be established as a separate business area. Head of the unit, Rasmus Aage Figenschou, will become part of the Group Management team. 
• Maria Ervik Løvold will take over as Group Executive Vice President of Personal Banking.
• A new support unit will be set up, People & Communication, which will be led by Even Westerveld. 
• Eline Skramstad will take over as Group Executive Vice President of Group Risk Management.

“With the new line-up in our Group Management team, we are making our customer focus clearer and linking banking and technology even more closely together. In order to deliver the best services to our customers in the future as well, we must develop even faster. These changes will contribute to that,” says Braathen.

The new Group Executive Vice President of Personal Banking, Maria Ervik Løvold, has extensive experience from both the technology environments and the customer environments in the bank.

“Maria has contributed significantly to reducing the technical complexity in DNB, and at the same time she already knows the personal customer market well from previous roles in DNB. I feel confident that she will contribute to creating new, good customer experiences for over two million DNB customers across the country,” says Braathen. 

The technical merger of Sbanken has now been completed, and the next phase is well underway. 
 
“I’m looking forward to embarking on the next chapter for the personal customer area, and to use DNB's muscles to build momentum for Sbanken as a challenger in the banking market,” says Løvold.
 
As of today, Ingjerd Blekeli Spiten, Sverre Krog and Anne Sigrun Moen will no longer be members of DNB's Group Management team. 

“I would like to extend a big thank you to Ingjerd, Sverre and Anne Sigrun. They have made valuable contributions both to good teamwork and to good results in the years we have worked together,” says Braathen.

DNB's new Group Management team as of 6 May:

Group Chief Executive, CEO: Kjerstin R. Braathen 

Group Finance: Ida Lerner

Wealth Management: Håkon Hansen

Markets: Alexander Opstad

Personal Banking: Maria Ervik Løvold

Business Banking Norway Rasmus Aage T. Figenschou

Large Corporates & International: Harald Serck-Hanssen

People & Communication: Even Graff Westerveld

Products, Data & Innovation: Per Kristian Næss-Fladseth 

Group Compliance: Fredrik Berger

Group Risk Management: Eline Skramstad

Technology & Services: Øyvind Trangerud (acting)

 
For further information: 

Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel.: (+47) 23 26 84 00 / (+47) 97 71 32 50

Kari Vartdal Riise, Executive Vice President of Communications (acting), tel. 97 51 67 07
 

Oslo, 30 April 2024 

Today, 30 April 2024, a total of 189,946 shares in DNB Bank ASA were acquired on behalf of certain leading employees and risk takers. The purchase was executed collectively at an average price per share of NOK 194.3405.

The shares were acquired in accordance with the regulation on remuneration in financial institutions etc., which states that at least half of annual variable remuneration shall be awarded as shares and be subject to certain lock-up mechanisms.

The employees have been given a compensation for decreased share value resulting from the lock-up at approximately 7.6% or 8.1%, depending on the length of the lock-up period. 

A list of primary insiders of DNB Bank ASA that have increased their shareholding is attached.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

The shares in DNB Bank ASA will be quoted ex-dividend today (30 April 2024). A dividend of NOK 16 per share will be distributed from 8 May 2024 to shareholders as at 29 April 2024. 

For further information, please contact: 

Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel. (+47) 232 68 400 / (+47) 977 13 250

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

The Annual General Meeting of DNB Bank ASA was held on 29 April 2024. The Annual General Meeting re-elected Kim Wahl as Board member and Olaug Svarva as Chair of the Board, for a period of two years, until 2026.

The Board of Directors of DNB Bank ASA will have the following composition:

For further information, please contact:

Investor contact
Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel. (+47) 232 68 400/(+47) 977 13 250 

Media contact
Even Westerveld, Group Executive Vice President, Communication & Sustainability, tel. (+47) 400 16 744

The information is subject to the disclosure requirements set out in section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. 

The Annual General Meeting of DNB Bank ASA was held on 29 April 2024. All items on the agenda, as specified in the notice published on 5 April 2024, were approved, with the exception of item 14.

Reference is made to the attached minutes for further details. 

For further information, please contact:

Investor contact
Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel. (+47) 232 68 400 / (+47) 977 13 250 

Media contact
Even Westerveld, Group Executive Vice President, Communication & Sustainability, tel. (+47) 400 16 744

The information is subject to the disclosure requirements set out in section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Jens Petter Olsen, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of DNB Bank ASA, has 23 April 2024 bought 6,000 shares in DNB Bank ASA at a share price of NOK 205.71. See attachment for further details.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

DNB’s profit in the first quarter of 2024 was NOK 10.2 billion. This is NOK 0.3 billion, or 2.6 per cent, lower than the corresponding quarter of last year.

DNB’s strong results were partly driven by a positive trend in the corporate market – not only in Norway, but also abroad. Around a quarter of DNB’s income in the first quarter came from the Group’s international operations.

At the same time, the Norwegian economy continues to show resilience in a time of higher interest rates, and this has also contributed positively to DNB’s results. 

“A stronger than expected start to the year adds weight to the belief that the Norwegian economy is heading for a soft landing. Norway has succeeded in keeping people in work while bringing down inflation in a controlled manner. In addition, 2024 is set to be a year of real wage growth. This is good news,” says Kjerstin Braathen, CEO of DNB.

Increased activity in the housing market

In the housing market, prices have risen more than many people expected at the start of the year. According to DNB Markets’ estimates, prices will increase by 3 per cent this year and 6 per cent next year.

“Fewer people are applying for interest-only periods and extended terms to maturity than at this time last year. We’ve also seen strong growth in the number of applications for pre-qualification letters since the beginning of the year, and we expect this trend to continue,” says Braathen.

At the same time, competition for mortgage customers is fierce. 

“Norwegian bank customers are the most active in the Nordic region. This pushes us to deliver for our customers every day and to highlight the good solutions and advice they get from us that they don’t get elsewhere,” says Braathen.

Robust lending portfolio

DNB’s net interest income totalled NOK 15.5 billion in the quarter. This is a decrease of 2.9 per cent from the previous quarter. The levelling off is taking place in step with the key policy rate seemingly peaking, and debt growth in Norwegian households falling to its lowest level since before the turn of the millennium.

The bank’s lending portfolio has proved robust throughout the key policy rate hikes, both in the personal customer market and the corporate market. DNB recognised impairment provisions of NOK 323 million in the first quarter.

Passed the NOK 1 000 billion mark

Income from other customer activities than lending and deposits (commission and fee income) ended at NOK 2.7 billion this quarter. This is an increase of 2.6 per cent from the same quarter last year, making it the best first quarter ever for this income item.

One of the factors behind this positive development is a strong growth in income relating to savings and investments. DNB is Norway’s largest private asset manager, and DNB Asset Management now manages more than NOK 1 000 billion on behalf of its mutual fund customers.

“The fact that we have achieved this milestone can partly be ascribed to our customers having a greater focus on saving in mutual funds. We see this in the way that our popular savings app Spare is gaining more and more users, and through the #huninvesterer (#girlsinvest) campaign, which is now in its fifth year. More and more people are setting up monthly savings schemes,” says Braathen. 

Sbanken is still a contender

An important event this quarter was the transfer of all of the Sbanken concept’s customer data to a shared technical platform in DNB. This completed the technical and legal merger between Sbanken and DNB.

“The move itself went well, and we’re very pleased about that. At the same time, we understand that our customers haven’t asked for these changes, and we’re taking their feedback on board. Now, we’ll do everything we can to show that Sbanken is still a contender in the Norwegian banking market – with user-friendly services and good prices,” says Braathen.

Despite the challenges of recent months, Sbanken still has more loan customers and higher lending volumes than when the acquisition plans were announced in April 2021.

Financial key figures for the first quarter of 2024 (figures for the corresponding quarter in 2023):
 
Pre-tax operating profit before impairment amounted to NOK 13.1 billion (13.6)  

Profit was NOK 10.2 billion (10.5)  

Earnings per share were NOK 6.48 (6.59)  

Return on equity was 15.6 per cent (17.2)  

Cost/income ratio was 35.7 per cent (34.0)  

Common equity Tier 1 (CET 1) capital ratio was 19.0 per cent (18.6) 

 
For further information:
  
Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel.: (+47) 23 26 84 00 / (+47) 97 71 32 50  

Øystein Kløvstad Langberg, Executive Vice President of Communications, tel.: (+47) 98 04 88 25 

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Securities Trading Act.