Storebrand Asa Unsp/Adr

Good morning and welcome to Storebrand's second quarter 2026 results presentation. As usual, our CEO, Odd Arild Grefstad, will start by taking us through the key highlights. He will then be followed by our CFO, Kjetil Krøsje, who will dive deeper into the numbers. After the presentation, we will open up for questions from participants in the team's webinar. Details on how to join the webinar are available on our investor relations website. With that, I'll hand it over to you, Odd Arild.

Thank you, Stig Eivind, and good morning, everyone. Storbrann built on the momentum from last year and made solid progress in the second quarter. Our insurance business performed very well during the quarter and equity market rebounded. Together, this contributed to a record strong group result with operational earnings up 17% year on year. This reflects the underlying strength and scalability of the group, and not least, the effort of my fantastic 2,500 colleagues in Storbrann. In the Norwegian retail market, we continue to strengthen our position as a growing challenger. I am proud that we have been able to combine strong growth in insurance with profitability in a market with strong incumbents. For Storbrann, sustainability remains at the core of our strategy and product offering. Our work on sustainability continues to receive global recognition. Time Magazine ranked recently Storbrand among the 50 most sustainable companies in the world. And we are also the only Scandinavian insurance company, once again, included in the Dow Jones Best in Class World Index. Another highlight this quarter was the agreement to acquire the shares in KNIF Trygghet Forsikring, and to establish a partnership with KNIF, serving Christian organisations and the broader non-profit sector. Cash-based earnings reached a new record in the quarter. The result of 1.8 billion NOC represents 26% growth year on year. The result for the first half was 3.2 billion, a 22% improvement from the same period in 2025. The operating profit grew 17%, supported by insurance and cost discipline. Unit-linked reserves were up 19% from the second quarter last year, while asset under management increased by 10% over the same period and reached a new record level. Return on equity for the last 12 months is 16%, and our solvency and capital position remains very robust. This gives me confidence that we will deliver on our capital distribution plans. Our buyback program shows steady progress as we have bought back shares for 1 billion so far this year. Since 2022, our ongoing buybacks have reduced the number of outstanding shares by 10%. Combined with strong earnings growth over the same period, This has led to a 77% increase in earnings per share from 2022 to 2025. Today, we are launching a new 1 billion NOC buyback tranche for the second half of 2026. We remain committed to our long-term ambition of more than 12 billion in share buybacks by the end of 2030, and this comes in addition to increasing annual dividends. Let me now turn to our strategy. We continue to execute on our ambition to lead the way in sustainable value creation. Our strategy is designed to grow capital light business areas by taking three clear commercial positions. First, to be the leading provider of occupational pension in both Norway and Sweden. To be a Nordic powerhouse in asset management To be a fast-growing challenger in the Norwegian retail market for financial services The strategy transforms into results. Across the group, we continue to see structural growth. Together with stronger equity markets, these supported a rebound in asset under management and reserves during the quarter. In insurance, portfolio premiums continue to grow by double digits. Lending growth is more moderate as we adapt the balance sheet to CRR3. The overall picture is one of steady execution with commercial progress, disciplined capital allocation, and a continued focus on profitable growth. We aim to lead in the structural growing market for occupational pension. This quarter shows that we are taking important steps to strengthen this position. Unit-linked reserves continued to grow and are now up 19% year-on-year. In Norway and Sweden, our results increased by 30% year-on-year to almost 300 million. Maintaining our position also depends on customer trust and satisfaction. This is why I am very pleased to see the result from the latest EPSI survey for private pension. Vesturban had the largest improvement among all providers. Another important development is that the new flexible guarantee rules has now entered into effect from 1st of July. These rules make paid up policies more attractive, both for customers and for Storbrann. We expect this to increase pensions for customers and improve profit sharing for shareholders. In asset management, the underlying development was solid in the quarter, despite lower performance fees from active funds and limited event-driven income. The cost-income ratio continues to move in the right direction. Operating costs were down 12% from the same period last year. I'm also very pleased to see that we have created more than 100 billion in returns to customers so far this year. Turning to the Norwegian retail market. P&C Insurance continues to be a key growth engine for Storbrann. We have now seen 30 quarters in a row of market share gains. This is the result of a strong brand and distribution capabilities. We now hold more than 8% market share in retail P&C. Retail insurance results amounted to around 400 million in the quarter and have more than doubled since last year. In addition to insurance, the second leg of our capital-light growth strategy is the savings segment, where Kron is an important growth platform. We now have more than 125,000 active savings agreements on the platform, and these agreements create a steady recurring inflow of new funds. On an analysed basis, this represents more than 2.5 billion in savings volume, giving us a strong basis for further growth. Finally, let me elaborate on the acquisition of KNIF Forsikring and our strategic partnership with KNIF. KNIF is a well-established P&C insurer with portfolio premiums over around 800 million. The company has a strong position within non-profit organizations, which is a new and attractive customer segment for Storbrann. The transaction adds meaningful scale to our business in insurance and strengthen our distribution and brings in a portfolio that diversifies our insurance book. Just as important, KNIF brings very competent people with deep customer understandings and strong relationships. Together, we will further develop a leading offering in this segment. And with that, I give the word back to you, Stig Eivind.

Thank you, Odd Arild. Now, let's take a closer look at the numbers. Kjetil, over to you.