Eksportfinans first half year 2009 Strong underlying business performance record high profits

The underlying business operations showed record high profits in the first
half-year of 2009. Net interest income was NOK 680 million in the period. This
was an increase of NOK 417 million compared to the first half-year of 2008.
Disbursements of export credits continued to be high in the period. The sale of
Eksportfinans' subsidiary Kommunekreditt Norge AS was finalized on June 24,
2009. 

Eksportfinans experienced a total comprehensive income of NOK 425 million in
the first half-year of 2009, up from negative NOK 11 million for the
corresponding period in 2008. The increase in total comprehensive income was
due to an increase in net interest income and a net gain from the sale of
Kommunekreditt Norge AS to Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP). 

Export Lending
New disbursements of export-related loans were still at a very high level in
the first half-year of 2009. New disbursements were NOK 11.8 billion, compared
to NOK 11.2 billion in the corresponding period in 2008. The volume of
outstanding export-related loans was NOK 79.5 billion at June 30, 2009,
compared to NOK 63.1 billion at June 30, 2008. 

The export markets are currently challenging for Norwegian exporters as a
consequence of the international economic crisis. Eksportfinans has been able
to fully maintain its offer to the Norwegian export industry through the
challenging times. This has been important for the export industry as other
sources of financing have been limited. Eksportfinans entered into a funding
agreement with the Norwegian Government in November 2008. This, together with
higher guarantee limits for the Government Guarantee Institute (GIEK) has
proved to be an efficient way of securing the financial needs of the export
industry. 

Funding
Eksportfinans successfully returned to the Swiss Franc market in June 2009 with
a CHF 300 million, 7.5 year public benchmark sold to Swiss investors. New
funding in the first half-year of 2009 amounted to NOK 32.9 billion through 550
individual trades, compared with NOK 48.5 billion and 477 trades for the same
period in 2008. New issues are being bought primarily by investors in Japan but
also in the USA. 

Local Government Lending
On May 7th 2009 Eksportfinans signed an agreement with Kommunal
Landspensjonskasse (KLP) whereby KLP purchases all the shares in Kommunekreditt
Norge AS. The shares were sold at book value on March 31, 2009. The legal
transferral of ownership was finalized on June 24, 2009. 

The complete 1st half-year report 2009 is available on www. eksportfinans.no 
For further information, please contact:
President and CEO Gisele Marchand, tel: +47 41 51 74 89, 
e-mail: gma@eksportfinans.no

EVP Director of Staff/ Head of Communications Elise Lindbæk, 
tel: + 47 22 01 22 64, mobile: +47 90 51 82 50, e-mail: el@eksportfinans.no.