Interim Report Q1 2017 for Spar Nord Bank A/S â€

• Compared with last year’s Q1, core income advanced by DKK 140 million (19%) to DKK 874 million. Net interest income was 1% down on last year, while net income from fees, charges and commissions improved DKK 44 million (18%), and market-value adjustments grew DKK 92 million (127%). • Expenses totalled DKK 475 million – which is in line with last year – after an increase in payroll costs of DKK 5 million (2%) and a corresponding decline in other expenses. • Core earnings before impairment amounted to DKK 399 million, which is DKK 140 million (54%) up on the same period last year. • Impairment of loans and advances, etc. ended at DKK 2 million, which is somewhat lower than expected at the beginning of the year and should be viewed in relation to loan impairment losses of DKK 55 million in last year’s Q1 and DKK 55 million in the previous quarter – the realized impact on profts comprises a DKK 94 million increase in groups of impairment losses. • The total business volume amounted to DKK 223 billion at end-Q1, up 1% since January 1. Bank and leasing lending grew 2%, bank deposits dropped by the same fgure, and the volume of mortgage-credit loans arranged increased 1%. • The capital position remains robust with a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET 1) ratio of 13.8% and a total capital ratio of 17.6%, equal to an excess capital coverage of DKK 3.3 billion (6.9 percentage points) compared with the calculated capital requirement. • The implementation of the Bank’s new strategy is generally proceeding satisfactorily – in the frst stage the primary focus was on prerequisite activities in the IT and process areas, and from the beginning of Q2 the implementation of customer-centric initiatives will begin. • In light of the performance reflected in the interim fnancial statements for Q1 and the outlook for the rest of 2017, the forecast for full-year core earnings before impairment of DKK 1.1-1.2 billion is maintained, and loan impairment losses are still expected to be lower than in 2016. Lasse Nyby, Chief Executive Ofcer of Spar Nord, has the following comment on the fnancial statements: We would be hard put not to be deeply satisfed with the interim fnancial statements we have now published. The post-tax proft of DKK 317 million constitutes one of our best performances and is an excellent head start on our new strategy period. There are three key reasons why things have developed so favourably. First, our net income from fees, charges and commissions is developing excellently, especially in the housing and wealth management areas. Second, the development in market interest rates has impacted favourably on earnings on our bond portfolio. Third – and this is in fact the point I fnd most gratifying – our retail and business customers are actually in fnancial situations so good that we have essentially lost no money on our lending activities. The competition to win customers, and thus the pressure on our interest margin, has certainly not abated, but in Q1 the positive trends in other areas were more than ample to offset this factor