OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2011. CEO Christian Clausen's comment to the report:

"Despite one of the worst quarters in the financial markets ever, Nordea's development is robust. Excluding short-term effects from the financial turmoil, income grew from previous quarter. Costs decreased, adjusted for the restructuring provision. Thus, effects from the turmoil on operating results are limited, reported the press-centre of Nordea Bank.

Customer business volumes continue to grow with income and profit at high levels. The result for the first nine months is up 5% from last year, excluding the restructuring provision.

Nordea will continue with a more focused relationship strategy in order to improve profitability. In line with the ambition to remain in the top league of European banks, Nordea has replaced the previous financial targets with one: an ROE of 15% in a normalised macroeconomic environment".

January-September 2011 vs Jan-Sep 2010 (third quarter 2011 vs second quarter 2011):

Total operating income up 2% (down 11%)

Operating profit up 5% excluding restructuring costs (down 22%)

Core tier 1 capital ratio 11.0% excluding transition rules, up from 10.4% one year ago (unchanged from 11.0% in the second quarter 2011)

Return on equity 10.6%, excluding restructuring costs of EUR 171m, down from 11.0% first nine months 2010 (8.5% in third quarter 2011, down from 11.5% second quarter)

New financial target adopted for the coming years: to reach an ROE of 15% in a normalised macroeconomic environment.