Storebrand Asa Unsp/Adr

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Storbrand's fourth quarter result presentation. As usual, our CEO, Odd-Arrel Grefstad, will present the key highlights of the quarter, followed by CFO Lars Løddesøl, who will dive deeper into the numbers. At the end of the presentation, participants in the team's webinar will have a chance to ask questions. Details on how to join the webinar are found on the investor relations website. But without further ado, I give the word to our CEO Odd-Aril Grefstad.

Thank you, Johannes, and good morning, everyone. 2024 was a record strong year for Storbrann, and I'm very pleased to see that we gained trust among new and existing customers. During the year, we delivered around 84 billion in return to our customers and supported about 200,000 customers in insurance-related cases. We also completed value-accreditive transactions during the year, including the sale of Storbrann Health Insurance, as well as the acquisition of the Danish infrastructure business AIP and our own headquarters. We aim to be a leading player within sustainability. And once again, Storbrann is the only Norwegian company present on the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2024. Now, let me give an overview of the highlights of the year and the fourth quarter. We delivered a record high result of 5.9 billion for the full year, with an operating profit of 3.2 billion. Adjusted for the sale of Storbrann Health Insurance, we actually delivered in line with our guiding of 5 billion, one year ahead of plan. The record-strong operating result was driven by double-digit growth across the business and strong cost control. On the financial result, the gain from the divestment of health insurance and supportive financial markets contributed positively. Storbrand's cash-based earnings for the fourth quarter amounted to 1.1 billion. up by 46% year on year. This is a strong result despite reversal of performance fees and effects from runoff losses and some large losses in insurance. We are pleased to announce a step up in dividends to 4.7 krona per share. an increase of 15% from last year. I'm also very pleased to announce that we have received approval from the FSA to conduct 1.5 billion of share buybacks for the full year of 2025. The share buyback program will be initiated today and executed across two tranches of 750 million each. This means that Storbrann pays out close to 100% of the result generation from the business from 2024 and at the same time have funded strong double-digit growth in all business areas. If results continue to grow as planned, you should expect high growth in dividends going into next year. Storbrand's long-term ambition is to perform annual share buybacks totaling 12 billion by the end of 2030, of which 3.5 billion has been executed at the end of 2024. The share buybacks come in addition to increasing ordinary annual dividends. We continue to consistently execute On Storbrand's strategy to take three commercial positions in the market we operate in. A, to be the leading provider of occupational pensions in both Norway and Sweden. B, to be a Nordic powerhouse in asset management. And C, to be a fast-growing challenger in the Norwegian retail market for financial services. These positions are strengthened by our strategic enablers, people, sustainability and digital frontrunner, together unlocking additional growth. I'm very happy once again to deliver double-digit growth across the entire business. This stems from both structural growth, increased market share, and supportive markets. Now, let me dive into our growth areas and share some highlights from the quarter and the year. Within UnitLinked, reserves grew by 21% in 2024, supported by strong growth in both our core markets, Norway and Sweden. Storbrand aims to be a digital front-runner. We are proud to once again receive the highest customer satisfaction score and elected the best digital solution in the Norwegian corporate pension market. During the year, Storbrand won tenders with a total asset management of 4.5 billion in the market for public occupational pensions in Norway. The volumes will be transferred during the first half of 2025. This market is a growth area for Storbrann and our aim remains to grow asset under management within public pensions by 7 billion annually from 2023 through 2025. Within asset management, asset under management reached a record 1,469 billion during the year. up by 21% compared to the end of 2024. The strong growth was helped by supportive markets, positive net flow, and the acquisition of the Danish infrastructure business AIP Management. In the quarter, we delivered a positive flow of 16 billion. Highlights include 7 billion from institutional clients and 7 billion from the pension business. Let me zoom out and look at the flow over time. The development of net flow in asset management has been consistent and strong over the last years. This stems from group synergies with the structurally growing pension business, providing a steady positive flow. This is an important competitive advantage. Secondly, our asset management business has a strong offering across asset classes and is able to win mandates among a broad range of external customers. Storbrand aims to be a growing challenger in the Norwegian retail market. In 2024, insurance portfolio premiums grew by 19%, while market share within P&C increased to 6.9%, up from 6.4% last year. The work to strengthen our position in retail savings continues. Kron had the highest customer satisfaction in the market for a second year in a row. And it's pleasing to see that high customer satisfaction has led to a 97% increase in asset management for the full year. In retail banking, loan volumes were up by 13% in 2024, and we continued to strengthen our position as a full-service retail provider in the Norwegian market. Strong growth, coupled with disciplined cost control across our business areas, has yielded a robust earnings momentum. The group result for 2024, excluding the gain from the sale of Storbrann Hett Insurance, stood at 4.9 billion. This represents an annual growth of more than 30% the last two years. We maintain our result ambition of more than 5 billion for 2025 and will continue to implement measures to achieve the targeted profitability level within insurance. In parallel with our focus on growing earnings, we have a long-term share buyback commitment to shareholders. The share buyback program we have completed since 2022 have had a positive impact on earnings per share, lifting annual EPS growth to 38% during this period. In summary, 2024 was a year of record strong performance and strategic progress across the group. And I would like to thank the whole organization for their effort during the year. Moving forward, we will remain focused on delivering value to our customers and shareholders. We are on track to deliver on our financial targets for 2025, as communicated on our Capital Markets Day in 2023. And with that, I give the word back to you, Johannes.

Thank you, Odariel. Now let's take a closer look at the numbers. Lars, please go ahead.