Stock and press releases

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published the formal recommendation and the final aggregate results of the recapitalisation exercise.

The conclusion is that DNB will pass the sovereign exposure buffer requirements and that the bank has no government bonds which have been written down in its portfolio. The bank does not have a need for a buffer to be held against sovereign debt exposures based on current market prices. 

The EBA has set the limit for common equity Tier 1 capital at minimum 9 per cent. According to the recapitalisation exercise, DNB Bank ASA has a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.82 per cent. The Group raised this level to 9 per cent with immediate effect by using available internal funds during Q4.

In line with the Group's capitalisation policy, DNB has chosen to keep a significant liquidity reserve in DnB ASA (the holding company) for capitalisation of DNB Bank ASA and other subsidiaries. The DNB Group was able to meet EBA's sovereign exposure buffer requirements by redistributing available internal capital resources. No external capital injection is required.

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Contact person for analysts:
Per Sagbakken, head of IR/Long-term Funding, tel.: +47 90 66 11 59

Contact persons for the press:
Bjørn Erik Næss, CFO, tel.: +47 41 50 52 01
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: +47 95 02 84 48

The Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises has today registered the name change from DnB NOR ASA to DNB ASA.

The ticker will be changed to DNB with effect from Monday, 14 November 2011.

 

This information is subject to the disclosure requirement as laid down in Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Today, DnB NOR ASA will change its name to DNB ASA. The new name will be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises in the course of today.

The ticker will be changed to DNB with effect from Monday, 14 November 2011.

A new statement will be issued once the registration in the Register of Business Enterprises has been completed.

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

This information is subject to the disclosure requirement as laid down in Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

DnB NOR has undergone the European Banking Authority's (EBA) sovereign exposure buffer requirements test of European banks. This was carried out in cooperation with Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway).

The conclusion is that DnB NOR will pass the sovereign exposure buffer requirements and that the bank has no government bonds which have been written down in its portfolio. The bank does not have a need for a buffer to be held against sovereign debt exposures based on current market prices. 

The EBA has set the limit for common equity Tier 1 capital at minimum 9 per cent. According to the test, DnB NOR Bank ASA has a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.9 per cent. However, the Group can raise this level to 9 per cent with immediate effect by using available internal funds.

In line with the Group's capitalisation policy, DnB NOR has chosen to keep a significant liquidity reserve in DnB NOR ASA (the holding company) for capitalisation of DnB NOR Bank ASA and other subsidiaries. The DnB NOR Group is able to meet EBA's sovereign exposure buffer requirements by redistributing available internal capital resources. No external capital injection is required.

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

Contact person for analysts:
Per Sagbakken, head of IR/Long-term Funding, tel.: +47 90 66 11 59

Contact persons for the press:
Bjørn Erik Næss, CFO, tel.: +47 41 50 52 01
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: +47 95 02 84 48

DnB NOR achieved a profit of NOK 2 493 million in the third quarter of 2011, compared with NOK 3 038 million in the third quarter of 2010. Total income rose by NOK 803 million from the year-earlier period.

 
"The Group's financial performance in the third quarter reflects the turbulence in the financial markets, which had a particularly negative impact on profits in Vital. On the other hand, the turmoil has also ensured significant mark-to-market adjustments in other areas of operations, offsetting the decline in profits in Vital. There is also a positive trend in the Group's banking operations," says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive.

DnB NOR is continuing to take market share. Average lending volumes rose by 7.1 per cent from the third quarter of 2010. Lending spreads contracted by 0.02 percentage points from the year-earlier period, reflecting continued strong competition.

Increase in write-downs
There was a generally low level of write-downs in the Group's Norwegian-based operations in the third quarter. Write-downs in Retail Banking were reduced by NOK 100 million from the third quarter of 2010. Write-downs in other segments, including shipping, remained at a low level. Nevertheless, total write-downs on loans and guarantees increased by NOK 527 million from the third quarter of 2010, which largely represents write-downs on the home mortgage portfolio in Latvia.

"Latvia accounted for 90 per cent of write-downs on loans in DnB NORD, our Baltic operations, due to a reassessment of collateral values and rising costs associated with the repossession of residential properties. We intend to monitor the operations in Latvia more closely and expect a reduction in write-downs on loans," says Bjerke. 

The Group's write-downs totalled NOK 1 170 million in the third quarter.

Sound performance in the first three quarters
DnB NOR recorded a profit of NOK 8 890 million in the first three quarters of 2011, an increase from NOK 8 778 million in the corresponding period of 2010. Average lending volumes increased by NOK 63.5 billion or 5.7 per cent from the first three quarters of 2010.

Strategy and long-term targets remain unchanged
"DnB NOR has more than 80 per cent of its operations in Norway, and we expect a continued strong trend in our home market and a healthy economic situation in Norway. Internationally, we anticipate more selective growth in our priority areas, which are shipping, energy and seafood," says Bjerke. 

The European economy is going through a challenging period, and there is great uncertainy as to whether the most heavily indebted countries will be able to serve their debt. Even though most of DnB NOR's operations are concentrated in Norway, the bank is also affected by the serious situation in Europe. Overall, DnB NOR expects a positive future financial trend for the Group. Though it may be more demanding to reach its financial targets in the short term, the Group's strategy and long-term targets remain unchanged.

Key figures for the third quarter of 2011
· Pre-tax operating profits before write-downs were NOK 5.2 billion (4.8)
· Profit for the period was NOK 2.5 billion (3.0)
· Earnings per share were NOK 1.53 (1.90)
· Return on equity was 8.8 per cent (11.8)
· The ordinary cost/income ratio was 48.2 per cent (48.2)

Comparable figures for the third quarter of 2010 in parentheses.

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

Contact persons:
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications,
tel.: +47 950 28 448
Thomas Midteide, executive 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.no (http://www.dnbnor.no)

Preliminary results 2011 and fourth quarter 2011:  9 February

Annual General Meeting:  25 April

Ex-dividend date:  26 April

First quarter 2012:  27 April

Second quarter 2012:  12 July

Third quarter 2012:  25 October

DnB NOR Bank ASA will present its results on the same dates.

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