On Wednesday, 15 June 2011, the DnB NOR Group will arrange a Capital Markets Day in Oslo.
Further information about the agenda and practical details will be presented later.

 

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Securities Trading Act.

 

 

DnB NOR has today signed the agreement to acquire the German Bank NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

DnB NOR ASA (DnB NOR) has today signed the agreement with Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) regarding the acquisition of all shares in Bank DnB NORD A/S (DnB NORD). Since 2005, DnB NOR and NORD/LB have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S.

Consequently, the reservation regarding final approval from the two owner banks' Boards of Directors no longer applies.

 

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Securities Trading Act.

 

Today, DnB NOR has taken over the German bank NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

Since year-end 2005, DnB NOR ASA (DnB NOR) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) have owned 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, of Bank DnB NORD A/S (DnB NORD). On 2 August 2010, NORD/LB was informed that DnB NOR would exercise its contractual option to acquire NORD/LB's 49 per cent ownership interest in DnB NORD.

The transaction was completed today, and DnB NOR ASA now owns 100 per cent of the shares in
DnB NORD.

 

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Securities Trading Act.

 

DnB NOR achieved a profit of NOK 5 284 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, which is the highest quarterly profit figure in the history of the Group. The strong profits reflect hard work, higher income and low write-downs on loans.  

Profits for the full year 2010 came to NOK 14 062 million. Pre-tax operating profits before write-downs rose from NOK 18 717 million in 2009 to NOK 21 081 million in 2010.

"We set ourselves ambitious financial targets four years ago to achieve, among other things, pre-tax operating profits before write-downs of NOK 20 billion in 2010. Due to the turmoil in the international economy over the last few years, it has been a demanding process to reach this target. I am therefore very happy that recorded profits surpass the target," says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive.

The Group's cost programme had generated annual cost savings of more than NOK 1 600 million at year-end 2010. This more than compensates for wage and price inflation. The programme is ahead of schedule to reach the target of annual cost savings of NOK 2 billion by year-end 2012.
   
Net interest income rose by NOK 803 million or 3.5 per cent from 2009 to 2010. Lending volumes rose by 4.9 per cent from year-end 2009 to end-December 2010.

Lower write-downs
"There was a significant reduction in write-downs in 2010, benefiting both shareholders and customers. While the macroeconomic situation has improved, this also proves that our loan portfolios are of sound quality," says Bjerke.

Write-downs were reduced by 61 per cent, from NOK 7 710 million in 2009 to NOK 2 997 million in 2010. In the fourth quarter, write-downs declined by 65 per cent or NOK 988 million compared with the fourth quarter of 2009. 

Higher dividend
On the basis of the Group's sound performance, the Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of NOK 4.00 per share for 2010. The dividend for 2009 was NOK 1.75.

Improved customer satisfaction
"I am pleased that we are succeeding in two areas that are important to us. We reached our profit targets while also improving our customer satisfaction scores in 2010. This is partly due to the fact that we launched the best housing loans for young people during the year, along with low-priced index funds, which make equity investments simple and easy for everyone. In addition, customers can now reach us by phone 24 hours a day, which is important for many people," says Rune Bjerke.

Bjerke expects continued growth in the Norwegian economy in 2011, which will enable domestic households to benefit from low unemployment and strong purchasing power.

"Looking outside Norway, we expect moderate growth in the global economy, but see that the debt situation in some countries could dampen growth. We anticipate a positive trend in the Baltic region, where we now have a large, wholly-owned banking operation," says Bjerke. 

Full year 2010

Fourth quarter 2010

Comparable figures for 2009 in parentheses.

Contact persons:
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: +47 950 28 448
Thomas Midteide, vice president External Communication, tel.: + 47 962 32 017

The quarterly report, presentation and Supplementary Information for Investors and Analysts can be downloaded from https://www.dnbnor.no/about-us/about-us.html?LA=EN (https://www.dnbnor.no/about-us/about-us.html?LA=EN)

In a meeting on Wednesday, 16 March 2011, the Board of Directors of DnB NOR ASA approved the annual accounts for 2010. The DnB NOR Group's annual report and business review for 2010 have been published on newsweb.no
 (http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?siteLanguage=en)The reports are also available on dnbnor.no (https://www.dnbnor.no/corporate/frontpage.html)

Shareholders in DnB NOR ASA are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting to be held at 6.00 pm on Thursday, 28 April 2011 at DnB NOR's premises in Kirkegt. 21, Oslo, Norway.

Please find attached the Notice of Annual General Meeting in DnB NOR ASA.

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

DnB NOR Markets, Inc., the U.S. investment banking unit of DnB NOR Bank ASA, has named Jae Kwon as Managing Director and head of its Corporate Finance Group.

"We are very excited to have Jae joining our team," says Ted Jadick, Managing Director and CEO of DnB NOR Markets, Inc. "We are highly focused on creating value for our clients by providing a full range of investment banking services, including merger and acquisition advisory services and access to the U.S. equity and debt capital markets, and are confident that Jae's extensive investment banking and maritime experience will help us to achieve this goal."

"We are very pleased that Jae will become a part of our global investment banking efforts towards the maritime, oil service and energy sectors," says Bern Blikstad, global head of the Transportation & Maritime Industries Group in DnB NOR Markets. "His background and experience will absolutely strengthen our execution capabilities and profile in the market."

Prior to joining DnB NOR Markets, Inc., Jae has spent the past seven years at UBS Investment Bank, most recently as an Executive Director in the transportation sector. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche, where he worked as a senior accountant for over four years in both the Audit and M&A Transaction Services Group.

Jae graduated cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Chemistry. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management.

DnB NOR Bank ASA is a global financial services group and a leading institution in serving the international maritime, oil service and energy sectors. DnB NOR Markets is the bank's investment banking arm and is Norway's largest capital markets intermediary offering a complete range of investment banking products and services. DnB NOR Markets, Inc. is a registered broker/dealer in the United States providing advisory as well as full equity and debt capital markets services to the bank's clients in the maritime, oil service and energy sectors as well as assisting other DnB NOR clients with their U.S. investment banking needs.

Contact:
Ted Jadick, Managing Director & CEO, DnB NOR Markets, Inc., +1 212-551-9801

Bern Blikstad, global head, Transportation & Maritime Industries Group,
DnB NOR Markets, +47 22 948134