Nordea: Interim Management Statement First Quarter Results 2015

OREANDA-NEWS.  Nordea: Interim Management Statement First Quarter Results 2015.

CEO Christian Clausen’s comments on the results:

“The first quarter was characterised by an increased activity where we have been successful in capturing business opportunities, leading to a strong growth of revenues. Exceptionally low interest rates put pressure on our net interest margins but also create higher demand for our products and services in other parts of the bank. The increased volatility leads to greater need for our risk management solutions among our corporate and institutional customers, and we continue to see very strong interest in our savings and investment offerings throughout Europe. Assets under management grew to a new record high level of EUR 290bn. Costs came down as expected and credit quality remains solid.

Our customers appreciate our digital solutions and usage continues to increase. In March one out of ten advisory meetings was an online meeting – almost triple the level of December. We continuously invest in new digital solutions and increasingly engage customers in evaluating new services, and as a response to the changing customer behaviour we are also more fundamentally transforming the bank by simplifying our operations and changing core systems the coming years.”
(For further viewpoints, see CEO comments on page 2)

First quarter 2015 vs. First quarter 2014 (First quarter 2015 vs. Fourth quarter 2014):

• Total operating income +9%, in local currencies +11% (+8%)
• Total expenses -4%, in local currencies -2% (-4%)
• Operating profit +27%, in local currencies +29% (+22%)
• Common equity tier 1 capital ratio 15.6%, up from 14.6% (down 10 bps from 15.7%)
• Cost/income ratio down to 43.6% from 49.5% (down 5.2%-points from 48.8%)
• Loan loss ratio of 14 basis points, down from 18 basis points (down 1 basis point from 15 basis points)
• Return on equity 14.3%, up from 11.4% (up to 14.3% from 11.8%)