During week 33 2018, DNB ASA has purchased 535 000 own shares at an average price of NOK 166.02 per share. After this, DNB ASA owns a total of 8 537 000 own shares.

The repurchase of shares is part of the share buy-back programme announced by DNB ASA on 6 June 2018. The buy-back programme comprises up to approximately 24.1 million shares, of which up to approximately 15.9 million shares may be repurchased in the open market. The rest will be redeemed from the state of Norway on a proportionate basis, subject to approval from DNB ASA's annual general meeting in 2019, so that its current ownership interest of 34.00% will remain unaffected following completion of the buy-back programme.

For further information about the share buy-back programme, DNB ASA refers to the Oslo Stock Exchange notification made on 6 June 2018 (available from www.newsweb.no).

During week 34 2018, DNB ASA has purchased 501 000 own shares at an average price of NOK 168.29 per share. After this, DNB ASA owns a total of 9 038 000 own shares.

The repurchase of shares is part of the share buy-back programme announced by DNB ASA on 6 June 2018. The buy-back programme comprises up to approximately 24.1 million shares, of which up to approximately 15.9 million shares may be repurchased in the open market. The rest will be redeemed from the state of Norway on a proportionate basis, subject to approval from DNB ASA's annual general meeting in 2019, so that its current ownership interest of 34.00% will remain unaffected following completion of the buy-back programme.

For further information about the share buy-back programme, DNB ASA refers to the Oslo Stock Exchange notification made on 6 June 2018 (available from www.newsweb.no).

During week 35 2018, DNB ASA has purchased 465 000 own shares at an average price of NOK 171.89 per share. After this, DNB ASA owns a total of 9 503 000 own shares.

The repurchase of shares is part of the share buy-back programme announced by DNB ASA on 6 June 2018. The buy-back programme comprises up to approximately 24.1 million shares, of which up to approximately 15.9 million shares may be repurchased in the open market. The rest will be redeemed from the state of Norway on a proportionate basis, subject to approval from DNB ASA's annual general meeting in 2019, so that its current ownership interest of 34.00% will remain unaffected following completion of the buy-back programme.

For further information about the share buy-back programme, DNB ASA refers to the Oslo Stock Exchange notification made on 6 June 2018 (available from www.newsweb.no).

(Oslo, 13 September 2018) DNB and Nordea, which decided to merge their respective Baltic operations in 2016, have entered into an agreement with Blackstone to sell part of their shares in the merged bank, Luminor.

Luminor Group was established as an independent Baltic bank in 2017, built on the Baltic businesses of Nordea and DNB. Today, Luminor is the 3rdlargest financial services provider in the region, with a 23% lending market share, €15 billion of assets, 3,000 employees and 64 branches across the region. 

The buyer is a consortium led by private equity funds managed by Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, and with a strong international presence and experience within the financial services sector.

“This is a good deal for both Luminor and the current owners. Luminor has a strong position in the Baltic market, and Blackstone will be a solid majority owner for the next phase of Luminor’s journey,” says Kjerstin Braathen, chief financial officer in DNB.

As part of the transaction, the consortium will acquire a 60% majority stake in the bank from its current owners Nordea Bank AB (“Nordea”) and DNB BANK ASA (“DNB”) for a cash consideration of €1 billion. DNBs stake in Luminor Group was 43,5 per cent before the transaction. After the transaction, DNB will own 20 per cent of the shares in Luminor Group.

“We will stay on as a minority owner in Luminor because we believe the company is well positioned to create value for customers, employees and shareholders. The bank has a strong digital focus, talented staff and broad Baltic operations,” says Braathen.

The transaction as such will not have any significant impact on the DNB Group’s overall financial results. 

During week 37 2018, DNB ASA has purchased 180 000 own shares at an average price of NOK 169.91 per share. After this, DNB ASA owns a total of 9 683 000 own shares.

The repurchase of shares is part of the share buy-back programme announced by DNB ASA on 6 June 2018. The buy-back programme comprises up to approximately 24.1 million shares, of which up to approximately 15.9 million shares may be repurchased in the open market. The rest will be redeemed from the state of Norway on a proportionate basis, subject to approval from DNB ASA's annual general meeting in 2019, so that its current ownership interest of 34.00% will remain unaffected following completion of the buy-back programme.

For further information about the share buy-back programme, DNB ASA refers to the Oslo Stock Exchange notification made on 6 June 2018 (available from www.newsweb.no).

DNB has today decided to increase interest rates on home mortgages by up to 0.25 percentage points. “After a long period of historically low mortgage rates, it is not surprising that interest rates are now on their way up,” says Ingjerd Blekeli Spiten, head of Personal Banking in DNB. 

“A number of factors affect the interest rates customers pay on their home mortgages.
Norges Bank has long been expected to increase its key policy rate at its monetary policy meeting on 20 September, partly due to the signals given by the central bank itself. This has resulted in higher money market rates for some time,” says Ingjerd Blekeli Spiten. 

“Although interest rate increases raise borrowing costs, the current interest rate increase has been expected and announced for a long time. Consequently, we believe that most borrowers are prepared for this," says Ingjerd Blekeli Spiten. 

“We will still have competitive home mortgage rates after this adjustment and will continue to give priority to low interest rates for young people entering the housing market and customers with a home that qualifies for green home mortgages,” says Spiten.

For existing customers, the interest rate adjustments will become effective as of November 4th 2018. All customers whose interest rates will be adjusted, will receive a letter by regular mail or information in the Internet bank by the end of next week, explaining how their mortgage will be affected.

The new best indicative interest rate will be 2.30 per cent for first-time home buyers and customers with green home mortgages. 

On 24 September, DNB and SpareBank 1 Gruppen entered into an agreement to merge their insurance operations, thus establishing one of Norway’s largest insurance companies.

The new insurance company will result from the merger of DNB Forsikring AS and SpareBank 1 Skadeforsikring AS. The merged company will have a virtually complete product portfolio within non-life insurance aimed at the personal and SME markets.

As part of the transaction, the individual personal risk insurances from DNB Livsforsikring AS and SpareBank 1 Forsikring AS (the life insurance company), as well as the company-paid personal risk insurances from SpareBank 1 Forsikring AS, will be transferred to the new company.

DNB ASA will have a holding of 35 per cent and SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS one of 65 per cent in the new company. In addition, DNB has secured an option to increase their holding to 40 per cent.

The merger agreement assumes an exchange ratio of approximately 80 per cent for SpareBank 1 Gruppen and approximately 20 per cent for DNB. This exchange ratio is based on a negotiated market value of the two non-life insurance companies, including the value of the transferred personal risk products.

In the transaction, the new non-life insurance company is valued at NOK 19.75 billion, including the value of the personal risk products to be transferred from the respective life insurance companies to the new company. An equivalent value is assumed when DNB is to increase its holding from 20 to 35 per cent. The purchase price for 15 per cent of the shares will thus be NOK 2.96 billion. The total volume of premiums on the personal risk products is approximately NOK 3 billion, generating a profit of about NOK 0.5 billion after tax. The pro-forma profit after tax for the new company for 2017 was approximately NOK 1.8 billion, out of which DNB’s operations amounted to NOK 300 million.

For DNB, this will, on completion of the transaction, mean a recorded gain of around NOK 3 billion in the group accounts, and a reduction of the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio (CET 1) for the Group of about 30 basis points.

The parties will soon establish an interim Board of Directors and appoint the head of the new company. The tentative merger date is 1 January 2019, subject to the approval of the authorities. 

Changes to the financial calendar:

• The fourth quarter results on 7 February will be extended to include a status update on the strategy and financial targets presented at the capital markets day in 2017.

• The ex-dividend date is set to 2 May.

DNB will publish its results for the third quarter of 2018 on Thursday, 25 October 2018 at 7.30 am (Oslo time).

25 October at 9.30 am (Oslo time): press conference in English accessible via live web TV
Place: DNB’s head office in Bjørvika, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, Oslo. A live broadcast will be available on the Investor Relations pages at ir.dnb.no.
Please register your attendance in Oslo at [email protected].

The press conference will be held in English.

25 October at 1.30 pm (Oslo time): conference call for analysts and investors
To attend the conference call: +47 2156 3318 or international line: +44 (0) 20 3003 2666
Password: DNB Q3

The phonecast (listen only mode) and replay will be available on the Investor Relations pages at ir.dnb.no

26 October at 07:45 am (London time): breakfast conference for analysts in London
Place: DNB Bank ASA, 8th Floor, The Walbrook Builiding, 25 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AF
Please register your attendance in London at [email protected]

Management will present the results followed by a Q&A session.

DNB will publish its results for the third quarter of 2018 on Thursday, 25 October 2018 at 7.30 am (Oslo time).

25 October at 9.30 am (Oslo time): press conference in English accessible via live web TV
Place: DNB’s head office in Bjørvika, Dronning Eufemias gate 30, Oslo. A live broadcast will be available on the Investor Relations pages at ir.dnb.no.
Please register your attendance in Oslo at [email protected].

The press conference will be held in English.

25 October at 1.30 pm (Oslo time): conference call for analysts and investors
To attend the conference call: +47 2156 3318 or international line: +44 (0) 20 3003 2666
Password: DNB Q3

The phonecast (listen only mode) and replay will be available on the Investor Relations pages at ir.dnb.no

26 October at 07:45 am (London time): breakfast conference for analysts in London
Place: DNB Bank ASA, 8th Floor, The Walbrook Builiding, 25 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AF
Please register your attendance in London at [email protected]

Management will present the results followed by a Q&A session.