DNB gains ground in the savings market

DNB’s annual profit for 2019 ended at NOK 25.7 billion, just over NOK 1.4 billion more than the year before. Norwegians are saving more money than before, and the bank has increased its share of the personal savings market.

The Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of NOK 9 per share after an eventful year with a high level of activity.

“We are very pleased with everything we have achieved together with our customers in 2019. Increased activity in all segments led to a lending growth of more than NOK 50 billion. This money has helped realise the housing dream for many families and resulted in increased investments in the Norwegian business community,” says Kjerstin Braathen, CEO of DNB.

Increased income

The net interest income for the full year 2019 ended at NOK 39 202 million. For the fourth quarter, this income amounted to NOK 10 347 million, 736 million more than the same quarter the year before. 

In addition, the DNB Group recognised other operating income of NOK 15 655 million last year, just over NOK 2 billion more than in 2018.

Total commission and fee income contributed strongly to this, with a solid increase of NOK 405 million, or 4.4 per cent. The demand for products such as insurance policies and investment banking services picked up in 2019.

Saving more in DNB

DNB has also been on the offensive in the savings market over the past year. The bank has reduced the prices of mutual funds and continued its digital focus through the savings app Spare. In the second half of the year, DNB launched the campaign #huninvesterer (#girlsinvest), with an aim to raise the awareness among women when it comes to their own savings. 

“We have seen a digital savings revolution over the past year. Last year, we sold mutual funds for NOK 2 billion in the Spare app alone. This is a larger turnover than most players in the market have on all their platforms combined. We believe strongly in making saving schemes easy, reasonable and available,” says Braathen.

Figures from Statistics Norway show that Norwegians are saving more money, due to, among other things, an increase in disposable income. Furthermore, DNB has increased its share of the personal customer market, after a year where more than 42 per cent of mutual funds purchases were made by DNB customers, according to figures from the Norwegian Fund and Asset Management Association.

“December was an all-time high in terms of sales of mutual funds in the Spare app, with NOK 300 million in new purchases. This represents an increase of 191 per cent from last year,” states Braathen, as an example of the budding trend. 

Maintaining a steady course

The Norwegian economy is continuing its steady course, and last year’s impairment losses of NOK 2 191 million are relatively low from a historic perspective. Of these, NOK 178 million were recognised in the fourth quarter. The losses are nevertheless higher than in the exceptional year 2018, when the impairment reversals exceeded the losses.   

“The Norwegian economy is still doing very well, although we do expect the growth to decline somewhat over the next few years. The Norwegian business community is in a very exciting period of restructuring, and we see that several industries are working on developing sustainable technology. This is also an important matter for DNB, as we aim to contribute to the allocation of NOK 450 billion to the financing of renewable energy over the next few years,” says Kjerstin Braathen.

Financial key figures for the fourth quarter of 2019 (compared with figures for the corresponding quarter in 2018):

• Pre-tax operating profit before impairment amounted to NOK 7.1 billion (7.3)
• Profit for the quarter was NOK 5.9 billion (6.9)
• Earnings per share were NOK 3.6 (4.1)
• Return on equity was 10.4 per cent (12.9)
• Cost/income ratio ended at 46.3 per cent (45,8)
• Common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 18.6 per cent (17.2)

Financial key figures for the full year 2019 (corresponding figures for 2018 in parentheses):

• Pre-tax operating profit before impairment amounted to NOK 31.7 billion (28.3)
• Profit for the year was NOK 25.7 billion (24.3)
• Earnings per share were NOK 15.5 (14.6)
• Return on equity was 11.7 per cent (11.7)
• Cost/income ratio ended at 42.2 per cent (43,8)
• Proposed dividend is NOK 9.0 per share (8.25)

Details concerning DNB’s results can be found on ir.dnb.no.

For further information, contact:
Thomas Midteide, Group Executive Vice President Communications, tel +47 962 32 017
Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel +47 977 13 250