Postponement of DNB’s annual general meeting
DNB ASA normally holds its Annual General Meeting in April each year. Due to the extraordinary situation caused by the spread of the corona virus and the authorities' restrictions on mass gatherings, the Board of Directors of DNB ASA has decided to postpone the general meeting.
In addition, the Board refers to Oslo municipality’s ban on gatherings in the regulations relating to the prevention of the spread of the corona virus in the municipality of Oslo, adopted by the Oslo City Council on March 27th, 2020. A new Annual General Meeting will be called within the ordinary deadline stipulated by the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act, which is June 30th, 2020.
DNB is one of the most solid banks in Europe. Norwegian authorities have expressed an expectation that financial institutions postpone the distribution of dividends until the great uncertainty surrounding the economic development has been reduced. On March 27th, 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a recommendation (ECB / 2020/19) that banks refrain from making dividend distributions and performing share buy-backs until October 1st, 2020 at the earliest. The Board of Directors is committed to support our customers though challenging times.
On this basis, dividends for 2019 will not be considered at the Annual General Meeting, but at an extraordinary General Meeting held no later than December 2020. The same applies to the consideration of the authorisation to the Board of Directors to repurchase shares.
DNB ASA will revert with updated key information on dividends.
For further information:
Investor contact:
Rune Helland, head of Investor Relations, tel. (+47) 23 26 84 00 / (+47) 977 13 250
Media contact:
Thomas Midteide, Group EVP Communications, tel. (+47) 962 32 017
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.