Solid results driven by loan growth and high customer activity
DNB recorded profits after tax of NOK 10.4 billion in the second quarter of 2025. This is a decrease of NOK 0.3 billion, or 3 per cent, compared with the corresponding period last year.
“I'm impressed by how well our customers are handling the global uncertainty. The Norwegian economy is robust, with low unemployment, real wage growth and a high level of activity. This also contributes to DNB delivering a solid result with high and increasing activity across customer segments and product areas," says CEO Kjerstin Braathen.
Loan growth in all segments
In the personal customer segment, activity remained high throughout the quarter, with strong demand for mortgages. This has contributed to loan growth of 3.2 per cent over the past 12 months, 0.8 per cent compared with the previous quarter. At the end of the quarter, DNB saw that enquiries from customers who wanted to move their mortgages to the bank were twice the normal volume.
Activity in the market has been particularly high since the Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, decided to cut the key policy rate by 0.25 percentage point on 18 June.
“We know that many of our customers have been waiting for this, and it was important for us to quickly notify our customers of our interest rate cut. Norges Bank has done a good job of managing the inflation during the past few years and now considers it appropriate to reduce the key policy rate. This indicates that the Norwegian economy is healthy," says Braathen.
The other customer segments also experienced growth in the quarter, and around 7 out of 10 kroner of the Group's profit can be ascribed to operations not including the personal customer market.
The figures for the second quarter show that companies are continuing to invest. Loans to corporate customers in Norway grew by 1.8 per cent, while growth in loans to the largest Norwegian and international companies was 3.3 per cent, compared with the previous quarter.
DNB's portfolio is well diversified, and impairment provisions in the quarter amounted to NOK 677 million, of which only NOK 12 million was related to personal customers.
Raising capital for the business sector
There is a significant increase in the proportion of income from other customer activities than loans and deposits. This is in line with the ambition to increase commission income from advisory services, capital raising, savings and pensions – a development that is reinforced by the acquisition of Carnegie. Net commission and fee income was up 27.1 per cent in the quarter, compared with the second quarter of 2024, ending at NOK 4.4 billion.
“This is income from areas where customers seek our advice and expertise. We have never had such a strong quarter in this area before, and we see that we are creating good customer value in all product areas. With the integration and establishment of DNB Carnegie, we are well positioned for further growth," says Braathen.
The acquisition of Carnegie was completed on 6 March, and DNB Carnegie was launched on 12 May.
“The feedback from our customers has been positive, and we see now that the companies are an even better match than we expected when we decided to acquire Carnegie. The combination of products, geography, industry knowledge and experience positions us as the leading Nordic investment bank, and since the launch, DNB Carnegie has assisted in 119 capital markets transactions globally," says Braathen.
Financial key figures for the second quarter of 2025 (figures for the corresponding quarter in 2024):
Pre-tax operating profit before impairment amounted to NOK 13.8 billion (14.1)
Profit was NOK 10.4 billion (10.8)
Earnings per share were NOK 6.79 (6.83)
Return on equity was 15.4 per cent (16.6)
Cost/income ratio was 38.8 per cent (34.8)
Common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 18.3 per cent (19.0)
For further information:
Rune Helland, Head of Investor Relations, tel.: (+47) 23 26 84 00 / (+47) 97 71 32 50
Kari Vartdal Riise, Communications Adviser, tel. (+47) 97 51 67 07