Investor Relations

A good result marked by good operations, lower losses and higher financial income

“The group's results for both the quarter in isolation and the first half of the year were good. We take a proactive approach in the market and are steadily gaining more new customers. This year we have strengthened our position within the corporate market, especially the SME segment, with more than 1,200 new corporate customers. Our digital solutions that are designed to meet small business needs have been welcomed.  We gained many of our
new customers thanks to our venture in the Oslo area, which is a new market for us,” says Arne Austreid, the chief executive of SpareBank 1 SR-Bank.

SpareBank 1 SR-Bank achieved a pre-tax profit of NOK 1,422 million in the first half of 2018, compared with NOK 1,160 million in the same period last year. The pre-tax profit for the quarter seen in isolation was NOK 754
million, compared with NOK 648 million last year. The results were marked by good operations, a busier corporate market, lower losses and a significant contribution from the bank's financial investments. Net income from financial investments amounted to NOK 326 million, which is an increase of NOK 94 million compared with the same period last year. The increase was mainly due to the positive effect of the merger agreement concluded between Vipps AS, BankAxept AS and BankID Norge AS.

“We are investing in new technology, both directly through the development of existing systems and processes and indirectly through the purchase of stakes in various companies. These investments, made through our wholly owned subsidiary FinStart Nordic, are in start-up companies that have developed various new technologies that could generally help improve our
services for customers going forward. FinStart Nordic, which is currently
moving into premises in the centre of Oslo, now has an organisation in place
that in the future will be able to supply companies we invest in with the
expertise they need,” says Arne Austreid.