Solid start to the year driven by good customer activity, continued cost focus and strong credit quality Net profit of DKK 3.1 billion for the first quarter of 2021

Press release

Holmens Kanal 2 – 12 DK-1092 København K Tel. [phone] 28 April 2021

Solid start to the year driven by good customer activity, continued
cost focus and strong credit quality
Net profit of DKK 3.1 billion for the first quarter of 2021

Carsten Egeriis, Chief Executive Officer, comments on the financial results:

“We saw good customer activity in the beginning of 2021, and with our new organisation, we continued to support both personal and business customers in a quarter marked by the second wave of the pandemic and lockdowns throughout our societies. As a result, we saw a positive income development across our business and our cost measures continue to have an effect, as we are becoming a more efficient bank. We are making progress with the execution of our 2023 ambitions as planned, and with a diversified business model, strong capital position and credit quality, relevant advisory services and our highly dedicated colleagues, we are well positioned to continue our transformation towards becoming an even more competitive bank.”

First quarter 2021 vs first quarter 2020
Total income of DKK 10.8 billion (up 17%)
Operating expenses of DKK 6.3 billion (down 2%)
Impairments of DKK 497 million (against DKK 4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020)
Net profit of DKK 3.1 billion (against DKK -1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020)
Return on shareholders’ equity of 7.5% (against -3.8% in the first quarter of 2020)
Strong capital position, with a total capital ratio of 23.4% and a CET1 capital ratio of 18.1%

Nordic economies steering well through second wave
In the first quarter, we saw that the Nordic economies steered well through the second wave of the pandemic. Similarly, the housing markets in the Nordic countries maintained their good performance during the period. Overall, government support packages continued to help the economy, while they naturally also caused a decline in credit demand. Credit quality remained strong, as we continued to see a low level of actual credit deterioration, and impairment levels have started to normalise.