Since 2005, DnB NOR Bank ASA (DnB NOR) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD L/B) have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S. Bank DnB NORD A/S has subsidiary banks in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
DnB NOR has today, on 14 July 2010, pursuant to the shareholder agreement, notified NORD L/B that DnB NOR reserves the right to exercise its option to acquire NORD L/B's 49 per cent ownership interest in Bank DnB NORD A/S. If DnB NOR chooses to exercise its option, this must take place between 1 and 30 August 2010. After DnB NOR has exercised its option, NORD L/B may require to take over the Polish subsidiary bank.
If DnB NOR chooses not to exercise its option, NORD L/B may require that DnB NOR takes over its 49 per cent share minus the Polish bank. Alternatively, NORD L/B may require to take over DnB NOR's 51 per cent share.
If the parties do not reach agreement on price, this must be determined in accordance with an agreed arbitration mechanism.

Since 2005, DnB NOR Bank ASA (DnB NOR) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S. Bank DnB NORD A/S has subsidiary banks in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 

In a statement to Oslo Børs on 14 July 2010, it was announced that DnB NOR, pursuant to the shareholder agreement, had notified NORD/LB that the bank reserved the right to exercise its option to acquire NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in Bank DnB NORD A/S. 

In a statement to NORD/LB today, DnB NOR has exercised its option to acquire NORD/LB's ownership interest in Bank DnB NORD A/S. 

If the parties do not reach agreement on price, this must be determined in accordance with an agreed arbitration mechanism. 

DnB NOR considers DnB NORD's geographic area of operation to be a region with a good future earnings potential, and that this is a good time to strengthen its position in the Baltic region.

 

DnB NOR achieved a profit of NOK 3 038 million in the third quarter of 2010, a significant improvement from the year-earlier period. Lower write-downs on loans were the main factor behind the rise in profits, though there was also a rise in interest income.  

"The Norwegian economy is continuing to show clear signs of improvement, and we are experiencing an increase in credit demand from both private individuals and companies. Parallel to this, we have a gratifying and pronounced decline in write-downs on loans," says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive. 

Rune Bjerke is very satisfied with the quarterly results, which show a clear improvement compared with the year-earlier period, when profits totalled NOK 1 760 million. 

Key figures for the third quarter of 2010:

Average lending volumes were NOK 8.1 billion lower in the third quarter of 2010 than in the year-earlier period and rose by NOK 12.8 billion from the second quarter of 2010. Net interest income was just under NOK 240 million higher than in both the third quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2010.

Lower write-downs
"We are very pleased to note the significant reduction in write-downs on loans compared with the year-earlier period, which is positive for both us and our customers. This showns that DnB NOR has emerged stronger from the financial crisis and that the Norwegian economy remains robust," says Bjerke. 

Write-downs on loans totalled NOK 643 million in the third quarter, down from NOK 2 277 million in the year-earlier period. There was a downward trend in write-downs towards the end of 2009, and this has continued in 2010. 

Among the global top 10 per cent
For the second consecutive year, DnB NOR has qualified for inclusion in the Dow Jones World Sustainability Index (DJSI World). This means that the Group is regarded as being among the top 10 per cent within its industry worldwide in terms of sustainability.  

"We are under an obligation to show responsibility and accountability in relation to the society we are a part of. The fact that we once again qualified for inclusion in the world's most prestigious sustainability index is a recognition of our long-term commitment to environmental and social issues," says Bjerke. 

Contact persons:
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications,
tel.: +47 950 28 448
Thomas Midteide, vice president External Communication, tel.: +47 962 32 017
 

The quarterly report, presentation and Supplementary Information for Investors and Analysts can be downloaded from www.dnbnor.com (http://www.dnbnor.com) 

DnB NOR has concluded an agreement to acquire the German bank NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD for a consideration of EUR 160 million in cash.

Since year-end 2005, DnB NOR ASA (DnB NOR) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) have jointly owned Bank DnB NORD A/S (DnB NORD). On 2 August 2010, DnB NOR exercised its option to acquire NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD. Since then, the parties have been in negotiations to agree on the consideration for the shares. An agreement has now been reached whereby DnB NOR pays a cash consideration of EUR 160 million to NORD/LB. After the completion of the transaction, DnB NOR will own 100 per cent of the shares in DnB NORD. 

"The Baltic states and Poland have higher growth potential than Western Europe, and DnB NOR wishes to grow within the retail banking segment in these countries to realise its general growth ambitions. We are also seeing clear signs that the macroeconomic situation in the Baltic states is improving, and the Polish economy has been among the strongest in Europe throughout the financial crisis," says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive of DnB NOR. 

As of 30 September 2010, DnB NORD had approximately EUR 10 billion in total assets, 155 branch offices across the four countries where it is present (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), around 960 000 customers and 3 100 employees. 

DnB NORD will be organised as a division in the business area Large Corporates and International, which is headed by Leif Teksum, group executive vice president. 

"We have already drawn up concrete plans of action to implement a good and efficient integration process. DnB NORD has highly qualified employees in all four markets and we will further strengthen the organisation with competent employees from DnB NOR," says Rune Bjerke. 

The transaction is subject to the approval of the two banks' supervisory boards and the respective national regulatory authorities. 

DnB NOR was advised by J.P. Morgan on this transaction.

 

On Wednesday, 15 June 2011, the DnB NOR Group will arrange a Capital Markets Day in Oslo.
Further information about the agenda and practical details will be presented later.

 

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

 

 

DnB NOR has today signed the agreement to acquire the German Bank NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

DnB NOR ASA (DnB NOR) has today signed the agreement with Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) regarding the acquisition of all shares in Bank DnB NORD A/S (DnB NORD). Since 2005, DnB NOR and NORD/LB have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S.

Consequently, the reservation regarding final approval from the two owner banks' Boards of Directors no longer applies.

 

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

 

Today, DnB NOR has taken over the German bank NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

Since year-end 2005, DnB NOR ASA (DnB NOR) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S (DnB NORD). On 2 August 2010, NORD/LB was informed that DnB NOR would exercise its contractual option to acquire NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

The transaction was completed today, and DnB NOR ASA now owns 100 per cent of the shares in
DnB NORD.

 

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

 

DnB NOR achieved a profit of NOK 5 284 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, which is the highest quarterly profit figure in the history of the Group. The strong profits reflect hard work, higher income and low write-downs on loans.  

Profits for the full year 2010 came to NOK 14 062 million. Pre-tax operating profits before write-downs rose from NOK 18 717 million in 2009 to NOK 21 081 million in 2010.

"We set ourselves ambitious financial targets four years ago to achieve, among other things, pre-tax operating profits before write-downs of NOK 20 billion in 2010. Due to the turmoil in the international economy over the last few years, it has been a demanding process to reach this target. I am therefore very happy that recorded profits surpass the target," says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive.

The Group's cost programme had generated annual cost savings of more than NOK 1 600 million at year-end 2010. This more than compensates for wage and price inflation. The programme is ahead of schedule to reach the target of annual cost savings of NOK 2 billion by year-end 2012.
   
Net interest income rose by NOK 803 million or 3.5 per cent from 2009 to 2010. Lending volumes rose by 4.9 per cent from year-end 2009 to end-December 2010.

Lower write-downs
"There was a significant reduction in write-downs in 2010, benefiting both shareholders and customers. While the macroeconomic situation has improved, this also proves that our loan portfolios are of sound quality," says Bjerke.

Write-downs were reduced by 61 per cent, from NOK 7 710 million in 2009 to NOK 2 997 million in 2010. In the fourth quarter, write-downs declined by 65 per cent or NOK 988 million compared with the fourth quarter of 2009. 

Higher dividend
On the basis of the Group's sound performance, the Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of NOK 4.00 per share for 2010. The dividend for 2009 was NOK 1.75.

Improved customer satisfaction
"I am pleased that we are succeeding in two areas that are important to us. We reached our profit targets while also improving our customer satisfaction scores in 2010. This is partly due to the fact that we launched the best housing loans for young people during the year, along with low-priced index funds, which make equity investments simple and easy for everyone. In addition, customers can now reach us by phone 24 hours a day, which is important for many people," says Rune Bjerke.

Bjerke expects continued growth in the Norwegian economy in 2011, which will enable domestic households to benefit from low unemployment and strong purchasing power.

"Looking outside Norway, we expect moderate growth in the global economy, but see that the debt situation in some countries could dampen growth. We anticipate a positive trend in the Baltic region, where we now have a large, wholly-owned banking operation," says Bjerke. 

Full year 2010

Fourth quarter 2010

Comparable figures for 2009 in parentheses.

Contact persons:
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: +47 950 28 448
Thomas Midteide, vice president External Communication, tel.: + 47 962 32 017

The quarterly report, presentation and Supplementary Information for Investors and Analysts can be downloaded from https://www.dnbnor.no/about-us/about-us.html?LA=EN (https://www.dnbnor.no/about-us/about-us.html?LA=EN)