Storebrand Asa Unsp/Adr

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Storbrand's second quarter result presentation. As usual, our CEO Odd Ariel Grefstad will present the key highlights of the quarter, followed by CFO Lars Ledersøl, 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 hello, everyone. It has been a relatively turbulent market in the second quarter, where asset management levels at times has been significantly lower than at the end of the quarter. The so-called Independence Day and uncertainty around global trade and geopolitics still looms over the markets, also going into the second half of 2025. Despite the market turbulence, Storebrand delivers a record strong operating result as the business continues to grow double digits. I am pleased to see that we gained trust among new and existing customers. And we are well on track to deliver on our 5 billion result target for 2025. Now, let me give an overview of the second quarter's highlights. Storbrand's group cash-based earnings amounted to 1,427 million in the quarter. The operating result was 953 million, up by 16% year on year. The operating result was driven by continued strong growth in savings volumes and strongly improved insurance results, in combination with increased market share. The financial result of 474 million was made up by profit sharing and return on company capital. In sum, this has led to an analyzed return on equity at 18% in the quarter, and a robust balance sheet with a 200% solvency ratio. The strong balance sheet means continued repatriation of capital to shareholders. We plan to conduct 1.5 billion in share buybacks across 2025, split into two tranches of 750 million each. The first tranche was completed on June 26th. The second tranche will be initiated today and end no later than December 19th this year. The long-term ambition is to conduct annual share buybacks of 1.5 billion in total 12 billion until the end of 2030, in addition to increasing annual dividends. As many of you are familiar with, Storbrann aims to take three commercial positions in the markets we operate in. A, to be the leading provider of occupational pensions in both Norway and Sweden. And 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. Let's look at the growth delivered in the quarter. I'm pleased to report that we again delivered double-digit growth across the business, driven by both structural growth and growth in market shares. Now, let me go into further details on our growth areas and share some highlights from the quarter. And let me start with our corporate customers. Our corporate business in Norway has reached an agreement to acquire a portfolio from Aspida Insurance. This acquisition will add new customers and annual premiums of around 40 million, further strengthening our market presence and position in the SME market. Within public occupational pension, we have submitted bids totaling 7 billion in 2025 so far, with the expected tender volume for the full year projected to exceed 15 billion. This demonstrates that the market is gradually opening in advance of the expected ruling from the European Union body, ESA. In the second quarter, there has been a notable increase in activity among closed pension funds. We have successfully signed one transfer in the quarter and work closely with other closed pension funds. For Storbrann Asset Management, we are proud to have exceeded 1.5 trillion in asset management, reaching a new record level. This milestone reflects our strong market position and ability to make attractive solution for our customers. Our active funds have generated strong performance based income amounting to 91 million in the quarter and 149 million year to date. This demonstrates our ability to deliver value to our clients through active management. Let me then turn to the Norwegian retail customers. We have now reached a 7.4% market share in the Norwegian P&C market, up from 7.1% the previous quarter. Our bank lending portfolio has seen a year-on-year increase of 12%, reaching 92 billion. This growth reflects our increased ability to attract and retain retail customers with a branchless multichannel offering. We have successfully integrated our pension solutions into the Kroon application. making it available to over 500,000 pension customers. This integration will not only enhance customer experience, but also provides opportunities for further growth and cross sales. Let me end with some further reflections on the development within insurance overall. Profitability in the insurance segment improved during the quarter. We delivered a combined ratio of 91% down from 97% in the first quarter, representing a significant step towards reaching our 90 to 92% combined ratio ambition for the full year. The insurance portfolio grew 21% over the last 12 months and is now close to 12 billion in annual premiums. The portfolio quality is increasing with the growth mainly stemming from short tailed P&C business. I'm very pleased with how the organization has developed and been able to take on this growth and how we use our group synergies within capital, brand and distribution to strengthen our market position. And with that, I leave the word back to you, Johannes.

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