Danske Bank has today announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2009. The interim report can be viewed at www.danskebank.com. Highlights are shown below:

The Danske Bank Group posted a net profit of DKr1.3bn (€0.2bn). This result is generally slightly better than expected, and it is acceptable given the difficult macroeconomic conditions.

The total income of DKr45.9bn (€6.2bn) is a very satisfactory result and represents an improvement of 48% over the level in the first nine months of 2008. The increase came primarily from Danske Markets’ exceptionally high income. The Group’s main source of income, its banking activities, produced a solid increase in net interest income.

Excluding goodwill impairment charges of DKr1.4bn (€0.2bn) against Banking Activities Baltics in the second quarter and the guarantee commission of DKr1.9bn (€0.3bn) paid to the Danish state under Bank Package I, expenses fell 2% and were in line with expectations.

Loan impairment charges...