DnB NOR, Norway’s largest bank by assets, has
posted first half net profits of NOK5.74 billion ($900.9 million),
up 60.4 percent from the corresponding period last year.
But pre-tax profits at DnB NOR’s retail
banking unit fell, by 8.2 % to NOK3.29 billion in the first
half.
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Fierce competition for deposits took its toll,
with total retail deposits remaining flat while margin
pressure resulted in a 5.4% drop in first half retail net interest
income.
Group-wide, DnB NOR has been boosted by a
sharp fall in write-downs on loans. In the second quarter alone,
write-downs on loans more than halved from NOK2.3 billion in
the year ago quarter to NOK878 million.
“We must now be able to say that write-downs
have settled at a level which is considerably lower than last
year,” says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive.
DnB NOR also benefitted from a one of gain of
NOK1.2 billion in the first half, in connection with the merger
between payment services company Nordito and Danish PBS
Holding.
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By GlobalDataLending volumes were somewhat lower than in the
first half of 2009 due to exchange rate movements and sluggish
credit demand.
But despite an ongoing cost-cutting programme –
with targeted cost-savings for the whole of 2010 achieved by the
end of June – DnB NOR’s cost-income ratio increased by 130
basis points from 48.6% in the first half of 2009 to 49.9% in the
first half of this year.
