Stock and press releases

Shareholders in DNB ASA are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting.

Shareholders in DNB ASA are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting to be held at 3.00 pm on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 at DNB’s premises in Dronning Eufemias gate 30, Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway.
The Notice of Annual General Meeting is attached: The Notice of Annual General Meeting

In the first quarter of 2013, the DNB Group will record a negative effect of basis swaps connected to funding of approximately NOK 233 million.

For the full year 2012, there was a negative effect of basis swaps of approximately NOK 1 687 million.
Basis swaps are derivative contracts entered into in connection with long-term funding in international capital markets where the relevant currency is converted to Norwegian kroner. These swaps are hedging instruments, and over the lifetime of the derivatives the mark-to-market adjustments will have zero effect. Over time, the accounting effects will thus be reversed.

Contact persons, Investor Relations:
Per Sagbakken: +47 23268400
Jan Erik Gjerland: +47 23268408

Annual report for 2012 for DNB ASA.

In a meeting on Wednesday, 13 March 2013, the Board of Directors of DNB ASA approved the annual accounts for 2012.

Annual report 2012 DNB

The DNB Group's annual report for 2012 has been published on newsweb.no (http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?siteLanguage=en)

The report is also available on dnb.no/about us (https://www.dnb.no/en/about_us.html?la=EN&site=DNB_NO)

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

On 8 March 2013, Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway) announced the introduction of a new longevity assumption for group pension insurance.

Finanstilsynet has used Statistics Norway’s medium alternative for life expectancy projections as a basis, but added a 10 per cent safety margin. In addition, the initial mortality rate has been adjusted by 12 per cent. The new calculation base gives a total required increase in reserves of approximately NOK 14.4 billion, of which NOK 3.8 billion had been set aside as at 31 December 2012. The remaining required increase in reserves represents approximately 6.5 per cent of policyholders’ funds for the relevant contracts.

There will be a five-year escalation period, starting in 2014. Including the 2011-2013 period, this implies a total period of eight years for financing the increase in reserves.

20 per cent of the financing must be in the form of shareholder contributions. With respect to paid-up policies, the increase in reserves will thus reduce the owner’s basis for profit sharing. With respect to contracts under defined-benefit schemes, an equal share of DNB Livsforsikring’s contribution will be added to the relevant contracts each year during the escalation period, resulting in a total shareholder contribution of NOK 2.9 billion, of which NOK 1.2 billion refers to paid-up policies, based on the current volume of such policies. NOK 0.2 billion referring to paid-up policies was charged to equity in 2011 and 2012. For contracts under defined-benefit schemes, the shareholder contribution will be distributed equally over a five-year period starting in 2014, while there will be reduced profit sharing for paid-up policies during the 2013 through 2018 period.

There is still some uncertainty regarding the interpretation of the letter from Finanstilsynet. DNB will cooperate with Finance Norway to clarify these matters as soon as possible.

Even though the new longevity assumption will have a negative impact on DNB’s financial performance, it will not affect the Group’s long-term financial targets.

For further information please contact:
Anders Skjævestad, CEO of DNB Livsforsikring, tel. +47 934 07 403
Jan Erik Gjerland, Investor Relations DNB, tel. +47 46 930 410

Due to the fact that the authorities have signalled stricter regulation of Norwegian banks, including a significant increase in risk weights for home mortgages, DNB has decided to increase its lending rates.

The increase encompasses floating rate loans, parts of the loan portfolio for small and medium-sized companies, and a significant part of DNB Finans’ loan portfolio. Lending rates will be raised by up to 0.30 per cent. The new prices will be effective immediately for new loans and at end-April for existing loans.

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For further information for investors: Head of IR Per Sagbakken (+47 906 61 159).
For further information for media: GEPV Corporate Communications Thomas Midteide (+47 962 32 017)

Giacomo Landi steps up to assume the responsibility for the further development of DNB’s American operation.

The American takes over as head of DNB Americas at the beginning of April. Landi has eight years of management experience in DNB Americas and will now be in charge of the bank’s offices in New York, Houston, Santiago and Rio de Janeiro. Most of the bank’s key areas and industries are represented across these offices.
-We face the same challenges as our colleagues in Norway, and are guided by the same strategy, visions and values. The main difference is size and the lack of a private banking aspect, he says.

For the past four years, he has been head of Shipping in DNB Americas. He now follows in the footsteps of Kristin H. Holth, who heads back to Norway to lead Shipping, offshore & logistics in DNB. Although his role has traditionally been held by Norwegians and he is the only foreigner in the management group, he feels comfortable with assuming the responsibility.
-I’ve worked with Scandinavians throughout my career and feel very much at home in this environment. I’ve also had the pleasure of living in several different places around the world, which gives me a decent perspective on how businesses operate internationally, he says.

Contact:
New head of DNB Americas, Giacomo Landi, phone no. +1 2126813864