CEO Christian Clausen’s comments on the results:
“The summer months featured a seasonally lower activity level, although in the autumn we have not seen the usual pick-up in corporate and market activity. Deposit margins continue to be under pressure and lending growth remains low, however Net Interest Income is holding up well in the business areas. We continue to see a good inflow in our Savings and Investment operations, despite declining asset prices, confirming our strong customer franchise. Assets under management are up EUR 19bn or 7% compared to twelve months ago, fully driven by strong inflow. Net Fair Value has been negatively impacted by the low liquidity on the financial markets and higher credit spreads. Total revenues were down 3% in local currencies compared to the same period in 2014. Nordea is following the efficiency plan and costs were down 3% in local currencies and credit quality remains solid. The Common Equity Tier 1 ratio has improved by 70 bps to 16.3% since the third quarter of 2014.
In September we signed the agreement with vendors for our new Core Banking Platform. This will long term improve our agility and ability to meet the future needs of our customers, as well as supporting our efficiency and IT resilience.”
(For further viewpoints, see CEO comments on page 2 of the interim management statement)
Third quarter 2015 vs. Third quarter 2014 (First nine months 2015 vs. First nine months 2014)[1], [2]:
- Net interest income EUR 1,272m, -9%, in local currencies -5% (-4% in local currencies)
- Total operating income[2] EUR 2,253m, -5%, in local currencies -3% (+4% in local currencies)
- Total expenses[2] EUR 1,108m, -6%, in local currencies -3% (-2% in local currencies)
- Operating profit[2] EUR 1,033m, -5%, in local currencies -3% (+13% in local currencies)
- Common equity tier 1 capital ratio 16.3%, up from 15.6% (up 70 bps from 15.6%)
- Cost/income ratio[2] down 0.2%-points to 49.2% (down 3.1%-points to 46.4%)
- Net loan losses EUR 112m, unchanged, in local currencies +2% (-15% in local currencies)
- Loan loss ratio of 13 bps, up from 12 bps (down 2 bps to 13 bps)
- Return on equity[2] 10.4%, down from 11.2% (up 1.2%-points to 12.6%)
- Diluted EPS (total operations) EUR 0.19 vs. EUR 0.23 (EUR 0.70 vs. EUR 0.61)
Exchange rates used for Q3 2015 for income statement items are for DKK 7.46, NOK 8.81 and SEK 9.37
[1] Key figures for continuing operations, following the divestment of the Polish banking, financing and life insurance operations.
[2] Excluding non-recurring items (Q2 2014: restructuring costs of EUR 190m, Q3 2014: gain from the divestment of Nets EUR 378m and impairment of intangible assets EUR 344m).
Press and investor information:
- A press conference with management will be held on 21 October at 10.00 CET, at Smålandsgatan 17, Stockholm. Presentation will be conducted in English and can be viewed live on www.nordea.com.
- An international telephone conference for analysts with management will be held on 21 October at 14.30 CET.
Please dial +44(0)20 3427 1900, confirmation code 2803094#, no later than ten minutes in advance. An indexed on-demand version will also be available on www.nordea.com. A replay will be available until 28 October, by dialling +44 (0)20 3427 0598, access code 2803094#.
For further information:
Christian Clausen, President and Group CEO, +46 8 614 7804
Rodney Alfvén, Head of Investor Relations, +46 72 235 05 15
Torsten Hagen Jørgensen, Group CFO, +45 5547 2200
Claus Christensen, Head of Group Communications, +45 25248993
The information provided in this press release is such that Nordea is required to disclose pursuant to the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act (1991:980) and/or the Swedish Securities Markets Act (2007:528).