Fourth-quarter and full-year results 2023

Nordea Bank Abp
Financial Statement Release
5 February 2024 at 7:30 EET

Summary of the quarter

Continued high-quality income growth. Total income was up 1% despite continued negative foreign exchange effects. The growth was driven by a 19% increase in net interest income as net interest margins continued to improve. Net fee and commission income decreased by 3% year on year and net insurance result was 15% lower. Net fair value result was very low following a strong quarter last year. Excluding regulatory fees and EUR 177m in write-offs of intangible assets, underlying costs increased by 2%, in line with Nordea's plan.

Return on equity 15.9% - excluding write-offs. Nordea's return on equity excluding write-offs was 15.9% in the fourth quarter, compared with 16.3% a year ago. The decrease was driven by the very low net fair value result, impacted by interest rate volatility and negative revaluations in the liquidity portfolio. The cost-to-income ratio excluding regulatory fees and write-offs was 42%, up from 41%. Earnings per share were EUR 0.31, down from EUR 0.35, driven by the write-offs and lower net fair value result.

Volumes stable in a slow market. Nordea's corporate lending increased by 1% year on year. Mortgage lending volumes were unchanged as mortgage markets remained slow. Retail deposit volumes were stable. Corporate deposits decreased by 3% year on year, but grew by 4% quarter on quarter. Assets under management increased by 5% and internal net flows amounted to EUR 1.9bn.

Strong credit quality, continued low net loan losses. Net loan losses and similar net result amounted to EUR 83m or 10bp, a year-on-year increase mainly attributable to lower reversals and a small increase in new provisions. The requirement to automatically provide in full for aged non-performing retail loans was implemented in the quarter. As a result, EUR 74m was transferred from the structural management judgement buffer to collective provisions, as planned. Overall provisioning levels and coverage were maintained, and the total management judgement buffer now stands at EUR 495m.

Continued strong capital generation and increased dividend. Nordea's CET1 ratio increased to 17.0% from 16.3% the previous quarter, supported by solid net profit generation. This is 4.9 percentage points above the current regulatory requirement, which demonstrates the bank's strong capacity to support its customers. Nordea continues to drive an efficient capital structure and is progressing with its fourth share buy-back programme. Nordea's Board has proposed a dividend of EUR 0.92 per share for 2023, an increase of 15% compared with 2022.

Outlook for 2025 updated: return on equity above 15%. Nordea has a strong and resilient business model, with a very well-diversified loan portfolio across the Nordic region. This enables the bank to support its customers and deliver high-quality earnings, with high profitability and low volatility, through the economic cycle. For 2024, Nordea expects a return on equity above 15%.

(For further viewpoints, see the CEO comment on page 2. For definitions, see page 56 in the Q4 2023 report.)

Group quarterly results and key ratios

1. Excluding items affecting comparability. See page 5 in the Q4 2023 report for further details.

CEO comment

2023 was another strong year for Nordea. Despite the weakening economic environment, we maintained good business momentum, made continued progress in line with our business plan and delivered solid financial results. Full-year return on equity increased to 16.9% from 13.8% in 2022.

In the current economic climate, many households and businesses understandably feel more uncertain about the future. Rising prices and higher interest rates have dampened economic activity. In general, our customers have adjusted well to the new environment and the Nordic economies have shown considerable resilience.

Our priority is always to proactively support our customers. As one of the strongest and most profitable banks in Europe, we have demonstrated a great capacity to do this. At the same time, we have seen that our customers continue to show trust and confidence in Nordea as their financial partner. Our engagement resulted in improved customer satisfaction scores in 2023.

Our omnichannel customer experience, combining excellent digital solutions and high-quality advice, continues to be effective and appreciated by our customers. The use of our digital services again rose significantly - 13% year on year - reaching a record high of 1.4 billion logins. We also held more than one million advisory meetings, up 9% on 2022.

We continue to work with our customers to reduce environmental risk and since our baseline year of 2019 we have lowered our financed emissions by approximately 25%, clearly demonstrating our commitment to reach our 40-50% reduction target by 2030.

In the fourth quarter we continued our proactive approach to supporting our customers and maintained solid underlying profitability despite the very low net fair value result. This was supported by a 19% year-on-year increase in net interest income and continued robust levels of lending. Our underlying costs were up 2% year on year. During the quarter we wrote off intangible assets of EUR 177m, primarily due to a change in the treatment of development costs related to digital services (now expensed as incurred). Without these write-offs, our return on equity was 15.9%.

The housing market remained subdued in the quarter, though we maintained a stable level of mortgage lending. In Denmark, Finland and Norway, we maintained our market shares in mortgage lending, and we continued to grow in Sweden. Corporate lending increased by 1% year on year, with market shares increasing in our prioritised segments.

Our credit quality remains strong. As expected, impacts from higher interest rates and inflation are now materialising to some degree and we have made a small number of specific provisions against lending to corporate customers. Net loan losses and similar net result was EUR 83m, or 10bp. Our loan portfolio is diversified across multiple sectors in our four Nordic markets, which continue to show considerable resilience. Moreover, we have a substantial management judgement buffer to cover additional potential losses.

Each of our four business areas performed well in the fourth quarter. In Personal Banking we supported our customers proactively through our market-leading digital offering and advisory services. We continued to see increases in recurring investments and monthly savings top-ups. Deposit volumes increased by 1%. Customer use of the mobile banking app grew, with private users and logins up 8% and 12%, respectively, compared with the fourth quarter of 2022.

In Business Banking we continued to enhance our services and delivered a strong financial performance. Despite the slowing corporate market, lending volumes grew by 1%, driven by Norway and Sweden. In the 2023 Prospera customer satisfaction survey we ranked first for both SME and mid corporate banking in Sweden, indicating solid progress with our strategy. Deposit volumes grew by 1% and we saw increasing demand for our savings and fixed-term deposit products. In November we expanded our sustainability offering by launching a Net-Zero Commitment Loan together with the non-profit global initiative SME Climate Hub.

In Large Corporates & Institutions we continued to actively support our Nordic customers in a more challenging environment. Lending was broadly stable and customer activity remained high. Market-making result was lower, particularly compared with the very high level seen a year ago. In the Prospera survey we ranked first for large corporate banking in Denmark for the fifth time and maintained a high corporate banking score at the Nordic level.

In Asset & Wealth Management we grew our private banking business, a key focus in our savings strategy. Our efforts have gained widespread recognition: we were named the best private bank in the Nordics by Prospera, Professional Wealth Management and Global Finance in their respective rankings. We further broadened our product range, and assets under management increased by 5% year on year, to EUR 378.5bn, supported by net flows of EUR 1.9bn from internal channels.

In December the Norwegian Competition Authority approved our acquisition of Danske Bank's Norwegian personal customer business. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to close in late 2024.

Our strategy, pan-Nordic business model and well-diversified business portfolio are serving us well. We continue to drive high capital generation. Given our strong financial position and full-year results, our Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of EUR 0.92 per share for 2023, a year-on-year increase of 15%. Including our share buy-backs over the past year, the total distribution to our shareholders will amount to approximately EUR 1.27 per share, or 11% of our market capitalisation. During the fourth quarter we increased our CET1 ratio to 17.0% - 4.9 percentage points above the current regulatory requirement.

As previously communicated, we have updated our financial target for 2025: we are now targeting a return on equity of above 15%, against our original target of above 13%. Our upgraded 2025 target reflects the significant structural improvements made across the Group over the past four years, which support the delivery of high-quality earnings, with high profitability and low volatility.

In 2024 we aim to again grow our income faster than our costs - albeit with narrower positive jaws than in 2023 - and to deliver a return on equity above 15% for the full year.

Every day, we work to earn the trust and loyalty of our customers and shareholders. I would like to thank them for their support, and also all our employees for their great efforts and relentless drive forward during 2023. Our focus is unchanged - to be the preferred partner for customers in need of a broad range of financial services.

Frank Vang-Jensen

President and Group CEO

Outlook (new)

Financial target for 2025

Nordea's financial target for 2025 is a return on equity of above 15%.

The target will be supported by a cost-to-income ratio of 44-46%, an annual net loan loss ratio of around 10bp and the continuation of Nordea's well-established capital and dividend policies.

Financial outlook for 2024

Nordea expects a return on equity of above 15%.

Capital policy

A management buffer of 150bp above the regulatory CET1 requirement.

Dividend policy

Nordea's dividend policy stipulates a dividend payout ratio of 60-70%, applicable to profit for the financial year. Nordea will continuously assess the opportunity to use share buy-backs as a tool to distribute excess capital.

Outlook (old)

Financial target for 2025

Nordea's financial target for 2025 is a return on equity above 13%.

The target will be supported by a cost-to-income ratio of 45-47%, an annual net loan loss ratio of around 10bp and the continuation of Nordea's well-established capital and dividend policies.

Financial outlook for 2023

Nordea expects a return on equity of above 15%.

Capital policy

A management buffer of 150-200bp above the regulatory CET1 requirement.

Dividend policy

Nordea's dividend policy stipulates a dividend payout ratio of 60-70%, applicable to profit for the financial year. Nordea will continuously assess the opportunity to use share buy-backs as a tool to distribute excess capital.

Dividend for 2023

On 31 December 2023 Nordea Bank Abp's distributable earnings, including profit for the financial year − after subtracting capitalised development expenses − were EUR 17,855m and other unrestricted equity amounted to EUR 4,575m.

Nordea's Board of Directors has decided to propose that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 21 March 2024 authorise it to decide on a dividend payment of a maximum of EUR 0.92 per share. This corresponds to approximately 66% of the net profit for the year. The intention is for the Board to decide on a dividend payment in a single instalment based on the authorisation immediately after the AGM. The dividend will not be paid for shares held by Nordea on the dividend record date.

Income statement excluding items affecting comparability¹

1. Excluding the following items affecting comparability in the first quarter of 2022: a non-deductible loss from the recycling of EUR 529m in accumulated foreign exchange losses related to operations in Russia; EUR 8m (EUR 6m after tax) in losses on fund investments in Russia, recognised in "Net result from items at fair value"; and EUR 76m (EUR 64m after tax) in credit losses on direct exposures to Russian counterparties, recognised in "Net loan losses and similar net result". There was no impact on equity, own funds or capital from the recycling of the accumulated foreign exchange losses, as a corresponding positive item was recorded in "Other comprehensive income". Consequently, this item has no impact on Nordeaʼs dividend or share buy-back capacity.

Ratios and key figures excluding items affecting comparability^1,2

1. See here for more detailed information regarding ratios and key figures defined as alternative performance measures.
2. For details about items affecting comparability, see footnote 1 in the previous table.

Business volumes, key items¹

1. End of period.

Income statement including items affecting comparability

Ratios and key figures including items affecting comparability¹

1. See here for more detailed information regarding ratios and key figures defined as alternative performance measures.
2. End of period. 
3. Including the result for the period.

2023 publications

Nordea's Annual Report for the financial year 2023, which includes the Audited Financial Statements, the Board of Directors' Report and the Corporate Governance Statement as well as the sustainability reporting, will be published in week 9 by way of stock exchange release and will also be available at www.nordea.com.

This release is a summary of Nordea's Q4 and full-year results 2023. The complete report is attached to this release and can also be found on the below link on our website.

Nordea Group Q4 2023 Report

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0028C_1-2024-2-5.pdf

A webcast will be held on 5 February at 11.00 EET (10.00 CET), during which Frank Vang-Jensen, President and Group CEO, will present the Q4 2023 results. Frank Vang-Jensen will then present a target update together with Ian Smith, Group CFO. The presentations will be followed by a Q&A audio session for investors and analysts with Frank Vang-Jensen, Ian Smith and Ilkka Ottoila, Head of Investor Relations.

The event will be webcast live and the presentation slides will be posted on www.nordea.com/ir.

For further information:

Frank Vang-Jensen, President and Group CEO, +358 503 821 391
Ian Smith, Group CFO, +45 5547 8372
Ilkka Ottoila, Head of Investor Relations, +358 9 5300 7058
Ulrika Romantschuk, Head of Brand, Communication and Marketing, +358 10 416 8023

The information provided in this stock exchange release was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contacts set out above, at 07.30 EET (06.30 CET) on 5 February 2024.