Danske tops highest profit bet amid tight cost controls

Bloomberg

Danske Bank A/S earned more money in the first quarter than expected as Denmark’s biggest lender saw an increase in interest income and kept costs under control.
Net income was 4.9 billion kroner ($796 million), less than a year earlier, but beating the 4.7 billion-krone estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Net interest income was broadly in line with expectations, at 5.9 billion kroner, while the bank wrote back more impaired loans and managed to cut operating costs.
“We had a satisfactory start to the year despite financial market developments that caused lower activity compared with the same period last year,” Chief Executive Officer Thomas Borgen said in a statement.
“Across our business, the underlying trend was good, with customer demand for credit remaining positive.”
Operating expenses were 5.6 billion kroner, down 2% from a year earlier Danske wrote back 330 million kroner in impaired loans, after writing back 235 million kroner in the first quarter of 2017. The bank is maintaining its 2018 outlook for profit in the range of 18-20 billion kroner. Danske reported a CET1 ratio of 16.4 percent, slightly less than the 16.6 percent estimated
by analysts.
Borgen reshuffled his management team earlier this month to create a simpler organisation that the CEO said would bring the bank closer to its clients and make it easier to collaborate with third parties.
The restructuring means Chief Financial Officer Jacob Aarup-Andersen will become head of Danske’s $250 billion wealth management operations, a focal point in Borgen’s plans for the bank. The announcement came a day after the resignation of an executive who had overseen operations now under scrutiny as part of a money laundering investigation in the Baltics.