Stock and press releases

Based on the breach of the loan agreement between DnB NOR and Nordisk Tekstil Holding, DnB NOR has initiated a process to take over ownership of the subsidiary Kid Interiør AS.

As the company's owner, DnB NOR will continue the operations of Kid Interiør AS, which has 109 outlets and more than 1 000 employees. Kid Interiør has a dominant position in the Norwegian home textile market and had a total turnover of just over NOK 860 million in 2008.

A notification of the take-over has been sent to the Norwegian Competition Authority
on 7 May. Up until the take-over, which can take place in no less than three weeks, there will be continued dialogue with the owners to find an optimal solution for Kid Interiør AS.

Visit our website www.dnbnor.com

DnB NOR achieved pre-tax operating profits before write-downs of NOK 6 109 million
in the first quarter of 2009, which are the best operating profits ever recorded by the Group. The corresponding figure in 2008 was NOK 1 454 million. Profit for the period was NOK 2 934 million.

The improved performance was primarily due to a strong rise in other operating profits, which increased from NOK 625 million in the first quarter of 2008 to NOK 5 190 million.

First quarter 2009
· Pre-tax operating profits before write-downs were NOK 6.1 billion (1.5)
· Profit for the period was NOK 2.9 billion (1.1)
· Return on equity was 15.8 per cent (5.7)
· Earnings per share were NOK 2.32 (0.79)
· The cost/income ratio was 43.6 per cent (74.3)
· The core capital ratio, including 50 per cent of interim profits, was 7.0 per cent (7.0)

(Comparable figures for the first quarter of 2008 in parentheses.)

"We are very pleased to be able to record such healthy profits during a period characterised by great uncertainty, where the consequences of the financial turmoil have started to manifest themselves in the real economy," says DnB NOR's group chief executive, Rune Bjerke.

DnB NOR recorded profits of NOK 2 934 million in the first quarter of 2009, up from NOK 1 120 million in the year-earlier period. The Group thus built up a buffer to absorb expected future losses.

Net lending clearly levelled off in the first quarter of 2009, reflecting reduced exchange rates and lower demand for credit in the Norwegian market. Higher credit risk margins in the market and the effects of time lags due to the rapid decline in interest rate levels resulted in widening lending spreads. Parallel to this, there was a narrowing in deposit spreads.

Write-downs on loans were within previously estimated levels during the first quarter. There were relatively large write-downs in DnB NORD's operations in the Baltic region. Write-downs in the Group's Norwegian operations were at a normalised level, but showed a rising trend. Prior to the onset of the financial crisis, the credit quality of the Group's shipping portfolio was very sound. Consequently, the Group still did not have to record individual write-downs in this sector in the first quarter.

Cost programme on schedule
Operating expenses rose by 12.4 per cent from the first quarter of 2008, to NOK 4 714 million.

"Both growth initiatives implemented during the first half of 2008 and direct income-generating activities contributed to the cost increase. However, the Group's cost programme is on schedule, introducing measures which will have lasting cost-reducing effects. The annual cost reduction target in the cost programme has been increased from NOK 1.4 billion by year-end 2010 to NOK 2 billion by the end of 2012," says Rune Bjerke.

Long-term funding and capital position
Access to long-term funding improved during the first quarter, partly due to the scheme to exchange covered bonds for Treasury bills. Financial markets remained volatile, however, and the price of long-term funding was very high compared with historical levels.

Including 50 per cent of interim profits, the core capital ratio increased from 6.7 per cent at end-December 2008 to 7.0 per cent at end-March 2009. The Group is considered to be adequately capitalised relative to the risk in the loan portfolios and other operations, but the Board of Directors nevertheless aims to increase capital adequacy in future.

On 28 April 2009, Standard & Poor's affirmed DnB NOR Bank's AA- rating.

Contact person:
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Marketing and Communications,
tel.: +47 950 28 448

The quarterly report, presentation and Supplementary Information for Investors and Analysts can be downloaded from www.dnbnor.com

DnB NOR is establishing a new business area in Norway for retail customers and large parts of the corporate market segment in Norwegian regions. Karin Bing Orgland has been appointed group executive vice president and head of the new business area.

Karin Bing Orgland (49) leaves her position as head of Regional Division East in Corporate Banking and Payment Services (CBP) in DnB NOR. She has extensive experience from a number of specialist and managerial positions in product and customer units in the Group.

The new business area will be operative from 1 July 2009. Group chief executive Rune Bjerke emphasises that Karin Bing Orgland has been a central figure in the planning of the new business area.

"Given her long experience and wide range of expertise, she is tailor-made for the task. Karin Bing Orgland is a natural choice now that we are changing our Norwegian organisation so that we can present our customers with a more homogeneous and integrated DnB NOR," says Bjerke.

Karin Bing Orgland has studied at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA and has a business degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen. She owns 2 000 shares in DnB NOR.

Group executive vice president Leif Teksum will continue to head DnB NOR's large corporate operations, comprising Shipping, Offshore and Logistics, Nordic Corporate, International Corporate and Institutions and the bank's international operations.

DnB NOR is Norway’s largest financial services group with total combined assets of NOK 2 141 billion. The Group includes strong brands such as DnB NOR, Vital, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco, Postbanken, DnB NORD and Carlson.

Fourth quarter 2008

• Pre-tax operating profits before write-downs were up 53.3 per cent to NOK 5.6 billion (3.6)
• Profit for the period declined by 61.7 per cent to NOK 1.9 billion (5.1)
• Return on equity was 12.3 per cent (28.4)
• Expenses represented 50.2 per cent of income (51.9)
• The core capital ratio was 6.7 per cent (7.2)

Vital Forsikring ASA