Risto Tornivaara, CEO:
“Danske Bank Plc Group, the Finnish subsidiary of the Danske Bank A/S Group, was able to improve its result in a challenging operating environment. Profit after tax for 2014 was EUR 169.3 million, an improvement of 17 per cent on the previous year. The main factors contributing to the increase in profit were the improvements in the bank’s cost structure and the increased fee income from payment fees and new corporate lending.
In the extremely challenging low interest rate environment, interest income also remained at the level of the previous year, declining by just 1 per cent. The bank aims to continue improving its profitability. The cost to income ratio improved on the previous year by 6.5 percentage points to 61.8 per cent. Impairment charges from receivables increased on the previous year and rose to EUR 16.7 million, which reflects the weakened state of the market, particularly in Business Banking operations.
In addition to a good financial result our other key goal is the continuous improvement of customer satisfaction. During the year we made several new initiatives in the personal ja business banking with the aim of improving customer satisfaction.
In the Personal Banking unit the most important of these was the new Benefit Programme that was launched in May. By the end of the year over 100,000 customers had joined this programme. In the business banking the customer satisfaction goal – to be one of the country’s top two banks – was achieved among medium-sized and large business customers. Within Corporates and Institutions, Danske Bank was elected as the best corporate bank in Finland for second consecutive year in Prospera´s large corporate client satisfaction survey. Satisfaction in the other customer groups, both in personal and business customers, also improved as the year progressed.
High-quality and personal service, and the continuous and all-round development of electronic customer channels increase satisfaction. A good example of this is that, as the first Finnish bank in 2013, we offered our customers the opportunity to use our Online Meeting service, which combines personal interaction and the benefits of technology. In 2014 a quarter of all meetings with personal customers that were arranged in advance already took place as Online Meetings via eBanking’s secure connection.
The Danske Bank Plc Group’s capital adequacy remained very high. The capital adequacy ratio was 14.5 per cent (16.7%), which clearly exceeds the regulatory requirement. The continuous tightening of regulations and EU-wide supervision mean that the capital adequacy of banks will continue to be an important benchmark in assessing the wellbeing of banks. In October, the European Central Bank announced the results of its comprehensive assessment of the balance sheets of the banks that will come under its direct supervision and the results of its stress test. Of the Finnish banks included in the assessment, Danske Bank Plc achieved the best result, which proves that the bank has carried out focused risk management work.
Danske Bank Plc paid a total of EUR 50.4 million in tax on its 2013 annual result. Therefore we are still one of the largest tax payers in the financial sector in Finland.”
Danske Bank Plc Group’s Financial Highlights
7-12/2014 7-12/2013 1-12/2014 1-12/2013
Total operating income, EURm 301 316 603 622
Profit before taxes, EURm 110 99 214 200
Equity at the end of the period, EURm 29,692 26,680 29,692 26,680
Number of staff at the end of the period 1,709 1,776
Please find attached Danske Bank Plc Group´s release of financial statements 2014 as a whole.
For further information:
Risto Tornivaara, CEO of Danske Bank Plc
For an interview with Risto Tornivaara, please contact Irja Kukkola/Communications, tel. + 358 10 546 8006.
Danske Bank Plc is part of the Danske Bank Group. In addition to Danske Bank Plc, Danske Bank’s operations in Finland include the Helsinki branch of Danske Bank A/S.
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