In connection with a Capital Markets Day in London today, 9 October 2007, DnB NOR announces that the Group's third-quarter profits will be on a level with the results for the third quarter of 2006, before taking account of the gain on the sale of the Group's premises at Aker Brygge in Oslo this year. In the third quarter of 2007, DnB NOR will record a net unrealised loss of approximately NOK 600 million stemming from a decline in prices on bonds and interest rate instruments affected by the financial market turmoil. The bond margin required by the market has generally increased. Price changes on the bank's bond investments are recorded in the accounts as they occur, but are reversed over the residual maturity of the bonds, which averages less than three years. The portfolio of international bonds in the bank's balance sheet is valued at NOK 90 billion. It functions as a liquidity reserve and is to a large extent deposited as collateral for unutilised borrowing facilities with central banks. 99 per cent of the portfolio has the highest possible credit rating, AAA. DnB NOR has no direct exposure to US mortgages nor to the so-called subprime market. The third quarter of the year has seen further growth in lending and deposit volumes. Total lending volume had increased to NOK 890 billion in August, from NOK 817 billion in December 2006, while total deposits had risen from NOK 466 billion to NOK 537 billion during the same period.
DnB NOR: Third-quarter performance in line with 2006
| Source: DnB NOR Bank ASA