Stock and press releases

Moody’s Investors Service have changed the rating outlook for a number of European banks due to the recently agreed BRRD (Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive) and SRM (Single Resolution Mechanism) in the EU.

Moody’s changed the ratings outlook of DNB Bank ASA, from A1 stable outlook, to A1 negative outlook. See attached press release for further details.

Standard and Poor’s Rating Service confirmed DNB Bank ASA’s rating of A+ stable outlook, 30 April 2014.

Link: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-changes-outlooks-to-negative-on-82-long-term-European--PR_300582?WT.mc_id=MDCAlerts_realtime

DNB recorded profits of NOK 5 519 million in the first quarter of 2014, up NOK 2 338 million from the first quarter of 2013. Key factors behind the improved profit performance were a rise in value of DNB’s shareholding in Nets, very low impairment losses and an increase in net interest income.

“The strong profits contribute significantly to enabling the Group to satisfy the regulatory capital requirements. We are thus one step closer to reaching our capital adequacy target for 2016,” says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive.

The common equity Tier 1 capital ratio, calculated according to the transitional rules, rose from 10.6 per cent at end-March 2013 to 11.9 per cent. DNB’s target is to achieve a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 13.5-14.0 per cent by year-end 2016.

During the first quarter of 2014, an agreement to sell the Group’s shareholding in Nets was signed. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2014. The increase in the value of the shareholding in Nets gave a NOK 913 million rise in income and helped raise the Group’s Tier 1 capital ratio.

Strong competition in the home mortgage market
“There is fierce competition in the Norwegian home mortgage market. In order to increase our competitive power in this market, we reduced interest rates on both home mortgages and deposits in April. We are now experiencing a slight rise in demand for home mortgages in Norway,” says Bjerke.

At end-February, the twelve-month growth rate for credit to Norwegian households was 6.7 per cent, while DNB recorded an increase of 1.9 per cent. Government-backed banks, in particular the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, accounted for the main part of the market growth. Compared to other private financial institutions, DNB’s market share was stable during the last few months of the twelve-month period.

Lower impairment losses
At NOK 80 million, impairment losses on loans and guarantees were low during the first quarter. Adjusted for reversals, individual impairment was considerably lower than in all four quarters of 2013.

“The low impairment losses in the January through March period reflect the positive economic trend in Norway and internationally and prove that our strong banking skills produce results. Other important factors are a positive trend in the shipping market and very low losses in the personal customer market,” says Bjerke.

Lending spreads increased, while deposit spreads were virtually unchanged during the quarter. Volume-weighted spreads widened by 0.05 percentage points from the first quarter of 2013, but contracted compared with the fourth quarter of 2013. There was an average increase of NOK 40.5 billion or 3.2 per cent in the healthy loan portfolio from the first quarter of 2013. During the same period, deposits were up NOK 134.1 billion or 15.4 per cent.

Increased focus on small enterprises
According to current economic forecasts, a cautious recovery is expected in both the Norwegian and the international economy during the remainder of 2014. DNB anticipates credit growth of 3-4 per cent over the coming year.

“A cautious recovery is good news for Norwegian companies. We need people with good ideas and a nose for business in Norway who are willing to take the risk of starting their own business. We will do our share to help start-up companies in the time ahead, and we will be there for people who are willing to take the chance,” says Bjerke.

Key figures for the first quarter of 2014:

• Pre-tax operating profits before impairment were NOK 7.4 billion (5.1)
• Profit for the period was NOK 5.5 billion (3.2)
• Earnings per share were NOK 3.39 (1.96)
• Return on equity was 15.5 per cent (10.0)
• The ordinary cost/income ratio was 41.3 per cent (52.0)

Comparable figures for the first quarter of 2013 in parentheses.

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

Contact person:
Thomas Midteide, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: + 47 962 32 017

The quarterly report, presentation and Fact Book can be downloaded from

www.dnb.no/investor-relations

DNB Bank ASA (“DNB”) has agreed to sell JSC Commercial Bank DNB Bank (“DNB Russia”), comprising all of DNB’s operations in Russia, to Asokerco Trading Limited LLC (beneficiary owner is Mikail Shishkhanov - majority shareholder of B&N Bank (JSC)). 

The terms of the transaction are not disclosed. 

DNB Russia is a regional leader in Murmansk with strong market share in retail and corporate banking.  The sale is in line with DNB’s strategy to focus its operations, optimize the use of capital and increase profitability.  Through this acquisition, B&N Bank will establish a footprint in Murmansk adding to its expanding outreach across the Russian Federation.    

The transaction remains subject to the relevant regulatory approval.

Societe Generale acted as exclusive financial adviser to DNB.  Allen & Overy was the legal adviser to DNB while Norton Rose Fulbright was B&N Bank’s legal adviser.

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07:30 CET – result release
DNB’s 1Q 2014 results will be released at 07:30 am CET on Thursday, 8 May 2014, and we would like to invite you to the following presentations:

09:30 CET – press conference & live web-TV
A press conference (in Norwegian) will be held on Thursday, 8 May at 9:30 am CET at DNB’s head office in Bjørvika, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, Oslo. For those who are unable to attend the presentation in Bjørvika, there will be a live web-TV broadcast of the conference (in Norwegian). For further information, please visit www.dnb.no/ir. Please register your attendance in Oslo at [email protected]

14:00 CET – investors and analyst conference call & phone-cast
A conference call for analysts will be held on Thursday, 8 May at 2:00 pm CET.
To attend the conference call we kindly ask you to dial in 10 minutes before start +47 21 56 33 18 or international: +44 (0) 20 3003 2666. Password: DNB2014. You can also attend the call by listen only mode at the phone-cast link at the following link: http://presenter.qbrick.com/?presentationGuid=4b2cae30-1c42-4edb-a19a-12289bcf11a7

A replay of the phone-cast will be available after the call. More details on the conference call can be found on our website www.dnb.no/ir.

Friday 9 May 0745 for 0800 GMT – analyst breakfast meeting in London
An analyst breakfast meeting will be held in London on Friday, 9 May at 0745 am for 0800 am start (local time) at Deutsche Bank’s London Branch, Garden House Dining Rooms, 23 Great Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB. Please register your attendance in London: [email protected]

Contact
For further information, please contact:
Per Sagbakken, head of Investor Relations, phone +47 23 26 84 00 or
Jan Erik Gjerland, e-mail: [email protected], phone +47 23 26 84 08.

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DNB has decided to decrease its deposit and lending rates.

The decrease encompasses floating rate loans and deposits, for the retail sector. Lending rates will be decreased by up to 0.25 percentage points and by up to 0.40 percentage points for deposits. The new prices will be effective immediately for new loans and mid-June for existing loans and deposits.

The financial effect of the rate decrease is expected to be neutral.

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For further information for investors: Jan Erik Gjerland (+47 23 26 84 08).
For further information for media: GEPV Corporate Communications Thomas Midteide (+47 962 32 017)

On 2 April 2014, DNB Livsforsikring ASA received a letter from Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway) regarding "Guidelines for the strengthening of reserves and the use of surplus returns to cover higher provisions within group pension insurance".

According to the letter, DNB Livsforsikring can use surplus returns above the guaranteed rate of return to finance the required increase in reserves to reflect higher life expectancy for a period of seven years starting in 2014, which is two years longer than in Finanstilsynet’s original plan.

Based on DNB Livsforsikring’s current capital management strategy, expected returns over the next three years will be in the range of 4.5-5.0 per cent for paid-up policies and just over 4.0 per cent for defined-benefit pensions. Customers’ share of provisions for higher life expectancy in the public sector occupational pension market was almost fully financed at year-end 2013.

Thus, only the shareholder contribution remains. If the expected returns are achieved throughout the escalation period, the shareholder contribution will represent approximately 36 per cent of the total required increase in reserves of NOK 13.3 billion. This is higher than the 20 per cent shareholder contribution which the Norwegian Ministry of Finance found to be reasonable and which has been used in DNB Livsforsikring’s investor communication. 36 per cent represents approximately NOK 4.8 billion (or approximately NOK 0.7 billion per year), while 20 per cent represented approximately NOK 2.6 billion. Thus, the shareholder contribution will increase by some NOK 2.2 billion (or by approximately NOK 0.3 billion per year).

The table below shows estimated shareholder contributions based on various levels of return. As a result of the decision to wind up public sector occupational pension operations, a shareholder contribution totalling approximately NOK 0.3 billion will be charged to the accounts before year-end 2015, of which NOK 0.1 billion will be charged to the income statement for the first quarter of 2014. With respect to paid-up policies and defined-benefit pensions, the shareholder contribution will be charged to the income statement on a straight-line basis during the seven-year period, provided that annual returns are stable.

Future returns determine the size of the shareholder contribution. The table below shows sensitivities based on different levels of return for paid-up policies and defined-benefit pensions in the corporate market, taking account of the NOK 0.3 billion shareholder contribution for public market operations, but not the former shareholder contribution of NOK 0.3 billion for paid-up policies.

1)     Including loss of profitsharing in Paid-ups.

In light of Solvency II, DNB Livsforsikring will remain a well capitalised company and be on schedule to reaching a solvency ratio in excess of 100 per cent once Solvency II is implemented on 1 January 2016.

Further details about the sub-portfolios will be available on DNB’s IR-website www.dnb.no/ir.

For further information, please contact:

Anders Skjævestad, CEO, DNB Livsforsikring AS, tel. (+47) 934 07403

Jan Erik Gjerland, Investor Relations, tel: (+47) 23 26 84 08