Third quarter report and accounts 2007: A very good result for SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge
Third quarter report and accounts 2007:
A very good result for SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge
Main features (amounts and percentages in brackets refer to 2006):
- A very good result
- Pre-tax operating result: NOK 643 million (NOK 601 million)
- After-tax return on equity capital: 17.9 per cent (19.5%)
- Earnings per PCC (Primary Capital Certificate) so far this year: NOK 7.13 (NOK 7.04)
- Aggregate revenue generation from financial investments: NOK 137 million (NOK 108 million)
- A very good result for SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS. The Bank's share of the company's result amounts to NOK 170 million (NOK 110 million).
- Unrealised losses on the Bank's shareholding in Hurtigruten ASA total NOK 51 million.
- Unrealised losses on interest-bearing securities total NOK 36 million.
- Core banking operations doing very well
- Overall cost ratio: 52.1 per cent (53.0%)
- Low losses on loans: Net losses of NOK 9 million (a gain of NOK 11 million
- Lending growth during the last 12 months (including loans transferred to SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt): 11.4 per cent (10.6%)
- The accounts show 7.3 per cent lending growth during the last 12 months.
- Deposit growth during the last 12 months: 9.0 per cent (7.2%)
- Deposit coverage ratio: 61.9 per cent (60.9%)
SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge's pre-tax operating result for the first 9 months of 2007 totalled NOK 643 million profit, up by NOK 42 million on the corresponding interim period last year. "We are very pleased with the result, which shows that we have been able to make the most of one of the best general economic growth periods that Norway has ever experienced," says Hans Olav Karde, Chief Executive Officer of SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge.
SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge's results reflect that activity levels within the Bank's region remain high. Deposits were up by 9 per cent during the last 12 months, lending by 11.4 per cent.
"The results which are now presented show a general growth in revenue generation from all our market areas. It is just not our traditional banking operations which are doing well but also the sale of products such as insurance and various types of savings products," explains Karde.
"The accounts are affected by unrealised losses within the securities market. This involves write-down of the Bank's shares in Hurtigruten ASA and the bond portfolio, the latter due to the turbulence in international financial markets," continues Karde.
The financial turbulence has also made it more expensive to raise funding loans abroad. This has also had an impact on SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge
"We have shown strength and competitiveness within all the Bank's market areas," concludes Karde.
SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge continues to receive a good contribution to its overall profits from SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS, owned by the Bank and the other member banks in the SpareBank 1 alliance. The Bank's share of SpareBank 1 Gruppen's result for the first 9 months amounted to NOK 170 million, up by NOK 60 million on the corresponding interim period last year.
The main Board of Directors is very pleased with the result for the first 9 months of 2007. Every effort will continue to be made in order to further boost the Group's revenue generation and to achieve more cost-effective operations.
More details relating to the Group's operations can be found in the attached reports.
Any questions in this connection should be directed to Hans Olav Karde, Chief Executive Officer, telephone number: 77 62 24 01, or Oddmund Aasen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, telephone number: 77 62 20 94. We would also refer to the Bank's home page: www.snn.co
Some brief background information on SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge
SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge is a leading provider of financial products and services to the retail banking- and corporate markets and to the public sector in the region. The Bank has an aggregate customer base of some 245,000 retail banking customers, about 40,500 corporate customers, including public sector entities, clubs and associations, and approximately 98,000 insurance product customers. The Bank has 83 branches in Finnmark, Troms, Nordland and on Svalbard (Spitzbergen), and a representative office in Murmansk, Russia.
Tromso, 24 October 2007
For and on behalf of SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge
Kjell Kolbeinsen
Director, Information and Public Relations