Sparebanken Norge reports a pre-tax profit of NOK 2,112 million in the first quarter of 2026. The return on equity (ROE) is 16.1 per cent, while ROE adjusted for merger effects amounted to 18.3 per cent for the quarter.
“The return on equity for the quarter exceeds our target. This is a strong performance in a quarter characterised by a significant level of merger-related costs and where we have yet to realise the full synergy potential from the 2025 mergers, “says CEO Jan Erik Kjerpeseth.
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Strong growth in corporate lending
Gross lending to corporate customers amounted to NOK 149.4 billion, representing quarterly growth of 2.1%. The Bank is experiencing solid activity among customers across a broad range of industries, supported by strong underlying credit demand from corporate clients.
“Despite low market growth, we continue to deliver very strong growth in lending to corporate customers. Our value proposition is compelling, we are an attractive employer for corporate relationship managers, and we are seeing increased interest from customers now that we are Sparebanken Norge, “says CEO Jan Erik Kjerpeseth.
Strengthened capital position during the quarter
The Bank’s consolidated Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 18.1% (17.9%) at the end of the quarter - an increase of 0.6 percentage points during the quarter. The Board has set a CET1 capital target of 15.9%, including a margin of 1.0 percentage point above all regulatory minimum, buffer and Pillar 2 requirements. At the end of the quarter, the Bank had a buffer of approximately 2.2 percentage points above the capital target.
“We are a well capitalised bank, with solid development during the quarter reflecting the quality of our loan book. We have sufficient capital to realise our national growth ambitions while at the same time delivering competitive dividends to the community and to holders of equity certificates,” says CEO Jan Erik Kjerpeseth.
Transformation programme
The Bank announces that work is under way on a transformation programme that will address several changes in areas from a holistic perspective. Key focus areas include national distribution, AI acceleration, digital lending capacity, core system conversion and systems modernisation, a new head office in Kristiansand, and workforce adjustment.
“The operating environment is changing and competition is intensifying, requiring more effort to achieve the targets we set ourselves less than a year ago. We want to approach this from a holistic perspective and are therefore working on a transformation programme. We will provide the market with further details at our Capital Markets Day in Kristiansand on 11 August 2026,” says CEO Jan Erik Kjerpeseth.
Highlights – first quarter 2026 (numbers in brackets are for Sparebanken Vest)
• Strong return on equity of 16.1 (21.3) % for the quarter
• Solid net interest income of NOK 2,641 (1,533) million in the quarter
• Positive underlying development resulted in net fee and commission income of NOK 435 (298) million in the quarter
• Low cost-to-income ratio of 31.9 (27.7) %, despite merger-related costs of approximately NOK 23 million in the quarter
• Continued low impairment losses on loans and guarantees of NOK 103 (10) million in the quarter
• Earnings per equity certificate of NOK 4.48 (4.78) in the quarter
• Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 18.1 (17.9) %, well above the capital target of 15.9 %
Sparebanken Norge will present the results for the first quarter of 2026 at 09:00 CET on Thursday, 30 April 2026. The presentation can be followed online via a link published at: Investor Relations | Sparebanken Norge
Questions may be submitted to investorrelations@sbnorge.no before or during the presentation and will be addressed following the presentation. A recording of the presentation will be made available at the same link later the same day.
An English subtitled version of the recording will be made available a few days later.
For further information, please contact:
• Jan Erik Kjerpeseth, CEO, tel.: +47 951 98 430
• Hans Olav Ingdal, CFO, tel.: +47 948 09 328
• Brede Borgen Kristiansen, Director of Finance and Investor Relations, tel.: +47 479 06 402
• Hanne Dankertsen, Director of Communications, tel.: +47 994 49 173
Sparebanken Norge is the largest savings bank in Norway, serving more than 800,000 retail and corporate customers, with gross lending of NOK 494 billion, Norway’s best mobile banking app, more than 1,600 full-time equivalents, and 69 branches across the country. Since 1823, we have built a strong position of trust with our customers, giving us a solid market position.
Through our affiliated product companies, we offer a complete range of financial services for all our retail and corporate customers. We take pride in being an independent financial group with headquarters in Bergen and Kristiansand, playing a central role in much of the value creation taking place in Norway.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
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