Good quarter driven by high customer activity

DNB recorded profits after tax of NOK 10 849 million in the first quarter of 2025. This is an increase of NOK 646 million, or 6.3 per cent, compared with the same period last year. 

“The Norwegian economy continues to do well, and DNB recorded a good quarterly profit, as a result of high activity among our customers. Globally, we see increased uncertainty associated with trade conflicts, and a weakened global economy will affect growth in a small, open economy like ours. At the same time, the Norwegian economy is sound, and Norway has considerable muscles to stimulate the economy when necessary. DNB is one of Europe’s best capitalised banks, and is well equipped to face uncertain times. We have ample capacity to support our customers,” says Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kjerstin Braathen. 

DNB Carnegie – a new and leading Nordic investment bank 

On 6 March, DNB completed the acquisition of Carnegie Holding AB, and the merged brokerage house DNB Carnegie will be launched on 12 May. 

“With DNB Carnegie, we are establishing a Nordic player that has both local support and international strength. This is something that the market has not seen before – a Nordic investment bank and asset manager with a global reach, built on strong industry competence, regional insight and long-term relationships. We already see that customers appreciate the overall value proposition of DNB Carnegie and are putting their trust in us,” says Braathen. 

Lending growth and increased customer activity  

Growth in the personal customer and corporate customer markets was good during the quarter. The lending volume in the personal customer market increased by NOK 6.7 billion, and the number of applications for pre-qualification letters increased by 30 per cent, compared with the previous quarter. The proportion of customers asking for interest-only periods on mortgages is at the lowest level since 2020. 

“Amidst market volatility, customers are seeking advice and oversight, and are getting in touch with the bank more frequently. We have never given advice to more customers than we did this quarter. Our advisory services create value both for our customers and for the bank, and we are seeing growing awareness of the importance of choosing a safe Norwegian bank like DNB,” says Braathen. 

One of the goals relating to the acquisition of Carnegie was to increase income from other customer activities than loans and deposits, such as advisory services, capital raising, savings and pensions. In the first quarter, where Carnegie’s results are included in one of three months, this income increased by 29.5 per cent, compared with the same period last year.  

“Developments are strong also without including Carnegie, and income from commissions and advisory services increased by 14.8 per cent,” says Braathen. 

Savings activity among customers remains high 

Despite the market volatility, most customers are maintaining their savings habits and are sticking with their monthly savings schemes. At the same time, we see that many people are choosing to lower the risk slightly by moving funds out of equity funds. DNB is seeing considerable growth in deposits in savings accounts, which are now at the same level as the peak in 2020, during the pandemic.  

Many of the bank’s customers still have good opportunities for saving. Nonetheless, the bank’s figures show that people who began saving in mutual funds during the pandemic, are twice as inclined as more experienced savers to sell all of their holdings during unsettled periods.  

“People who have received advice from us or who have experienced market volatility in the past, generally tend to stick with their savings strategy, and many of them have also taken advantage of the stock market decline to build up their holdings,” says Braathen.  

Over NOK 12 billion back to the community 

DNB is paying a dividend of NOK 16.75 per share for 2024, in total about NOK 25 billion. Over NOK 12 billion will be channelled directly back to the community through the Group’s three largest owners. 

“We are Norway’s largest financial services group, and part of our mission is to create value that also benefits society. A large part of our profits go back to our largest owners, the Norwegian government, the DNB Savings Bank Foundation and Folketrygdfondet (manager of the Government Pension Fund Norway), and this is something both people and companies around the country will benefit from,” says Braathen.  

Financial key figures for the first quarter of 2025 (figures for the corresponding quarter in 2024 in parentheses):  

Pre-tax operating profit before impairment amounted to NOK 14.0 billion (13.1)  

Profit was NOK 10.8 billion (10.2)  

Earnings per share were NOK 7.04 (6.48)  

Return on equity was 15.9 per cent (15.6)  

Cost/income ratio was 36.1 per cent (35.7)  

Common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 18.5 per cent (19.0)  

For further information: 

Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel.: (+47) 23 26 84 00 / (+47) 97 71 32 50 

Liselotte Lunde, Executive Vice President of Communications, tel.: (+47) 95 94 92 35 

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