Dnb Asa Sp/Adr

Hello and welcome to the DNB Quarter 3 conference call. My name is Caroline and I'll be your coordinator for today's event. Please note this call is being recorded and for the duration of the call your lines will be on listen only mode. However, you'll have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the call. This can be done by pressing star 1 on your telephone keypad to register your questions. If you require assistance at any point, please press star 0 and you'll be connected to an operator. I will now hand over the call to your host, Ruynhelen, to begin today's conference. Thank you.

Thank you very much, and hello everyone, and welcome to D&B's third quarter analyst call. With us in also to answer all your questions are, of course, CEO Katrin Bråten, CFO Ida Lernir. We also have Head of D&B Markets, Alex Oppstad, Head of Wealth Management, Håkon Hansen, and Head of Personal Banking, Maria Løvvold, and Head of Business Customer Norway, Rasmus Figgenskau, and of course, also Head of Large Corporate, Harald Serk Hansen. Before we open up for questions, Ida, will you give you a short summary of the quarter, please? Thank you.

Absolutely. And hi, everyone, and thanks for dialing in. The Norwegian economy continues to be robust and is showing clear signs of a soft landing. Norwegian mainland GDP rose by 0.1% in the second quarter, and the full year projected mainland GDP growth is expected to be at 0.6%. Before picking up slightly to a more moderate growth rate around 1.1% in 2025. Overall household consumption has increased in the second quarter and moving on to the third quarter from our numbers, you can also see that it's expected to continue to increase in the second half of 2024. Prospects for higher real wages and continued low unemployment are expected to drive an increase in household real disposable income Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Asa Sp-Adr Due to the strong Norwegian economy and the low unemployment levels, as well as how well the households as well as corporates are upholding, the key policy rate remains unchanged at 4.5% and is expected to remain at this level until March 2025, after which rates are expected to gradually move downwards to 2.75 as year ends 2027. This quarter, there is a strong performance across the board in the back. We see strong development and activity levels in all customer segments, return on equity at 18.9% in the quarter, with a strong activity around the back. 18% adjusted for a one-off gain from Frampton Acre merger, but still then at very high levels. Net interest income up 2% from the last quarter, driven by lending growth and increased activity, and we see a strong momentum in the personal customer segment during the quarter. Loan growth in all customer segments, personal customers up 0.8%, corporate banking Norway up 0.3%, and a strong growth in large corporate of 4.7%. Deposit volumes were reduced by 4.1%, There are seasonal effects in the personal customer segments, which is always natural in moving into the third quarter from the second quarter. And in the corporate banking Norway segment, we also see more seasonal effects coming from the public sector. In addition to that, there was a decrease in deposit volumes in large corporates, but that's more related to low margin deposits that are short term of nature. So you can see that when you're looking at the deposit margins in the combined margins and in the corporate segment that they have actually improved. Net commission and fees are up 11.1% from the corresponding quarter last year. We see an all-time high third quarter, resulting in a strong performance from asset under management as well as investment banking, which continues to deliver strong results. Solid asset quality and impairment provisions totaling 170 million in the quarter. A strong quarter one capital ratio of 19% and earnings per share up 22.5% from the third quarter 2023. And with that, we are opening up for Q&A. Thank you.