DNB Bank to cut costs by up to 2 billion annually

DNB services stress testDNB logo. Photo Norway Today Media.

DNB wants higher profits over the next few years. This means cost cutting and streamlining of between 1.5 and 2 billion kroner annually by 2020.

 

DNB management presented its financial targets for the next couple of years on a capital market day in London on Tuesday.

One of the targets is more than 12% return on equity. In the third quarter, the return was 10.6%, wrote Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.

Additionally, the cost level should be reduced, and account for less than 40% of revenues. More than 50%of the profits will be distributed in dividends.

The core capital ratio should be above 16.1%.

A year ago, DNB was aiming to cut costs by between 1.4 and 1.8 billion. Now, the bank wants to cut them even more, to between 1.5 and 2 billion annually between 2018 and 2020. This will be done through digitalization and automation.

Previously, the financial group made significant financial tightening efforts. Among other things, the number of branches were reduced from 156 to 57 since 2013, reported E24 newspaper.

The number of full-time employees working in personal, small and medium-sized enterprises has been reduced by 20%. In the past year, the number of employees has been cut by close to 100, to 10,785.

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today