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2008-05-14 11:14:31 CEST 2008-05-14 11:15:09 CEST REGULATED INFORMATION Glitnir banki hf. - Company AnnouncementGlitnir Bank launches a successful covered bond issue in NorwayGlitnir Bank ASA issues covered bonds for NOK 7 billion (approximately EUR 900m) in the Norwegian Market Oslo - May 14, 2007 - Glitnir Bank ASA in Norway has today successfully closed a covered bond issue of NOK 7 billion (approximately EUR 900 million). The issue, achieved through its Norwegian subsidiary BN Boligkreditt AS, secures all refinancing of Glitnir Bank ASA's debt maturing in 2008, as well as some of the 2009 and later maturities. The issue was sold exclusively to Norwegian investors. The covered bond issue was successfully achieved by issuing bonds with maturities between 1 and 7 years at the price of NIBOR +25-+55 bp."I am very pleased that Glitnir Bank ASA has secured all of its required refinancing in 2008 by this successful covered bond transaction", said Glitnir's Executive Vice President Nordic Banking, Morten Bjørnsen. "I am also delighted that we succeeded in placing the transaction at attractive margins, and how well it was received by the Norwegian investor base.""Appetite for the issue has demonstrated investors' views of the Bank's underlying strengths and the trust that local investors have in our Norwegian operation. Covered bonds are an efficient form of financing in the current market environment. Through our excellent asset quality in Norway we have the opportunity to continue to fund our operations using the covered bond market", added Lárus Welding, CEO of Glitnir. Glitnir Bank recently presented strong results for the first quarter of 2008. In a challenging market the Bank reported core income growth of 8.6% and costs reducing by 12% quarter on quarter. Glitnir demonstrated its inherent strengths with the generation of ISK 7.7bn pre-tax profits for the first quarter, confirming the Bank's underlying resilience and flexibility. The Bank is in a good position with EUR 8.7 billion of immediately available funds with remaining maturing long term debt of EUR 1.58 billion in 2008 its parent company. Glitnir Bank ASA in Norway also reported strong results in its first quarter of 2008. The pre-tax profit for the first quarter was NOK 104 million, up from NOK 90 million in the previous quarter. ROE was up to 12.3% from 10.9% in the previous quarter. The issue was arranged by Arctic Securities and Pareto Securities in Oslo. For further information: Ingvar Ragnarsson, Managing Director, Treasury, tel. +354 440 4665, mobile +354 844 4665 and e-mail: ingvar.ragnarsson@glitnir.is Vala Pálsdóttir, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +354 440 4989, mobile +354 844 4989 ande-mail: vala.palsdottir@glitnir.is Bjørn Richard Johansen, Managing Director, Global Corporate Communication, mobile +47-47 800 100, e-mail: brj@glitnir.no About Glitnir Bank: Glitnir is a Nordic bank, with headquarters in Iceland and operations in ten countries. Our home markets are Iceland and Norway, where we offer a broad range of financial services, including corporate banking, investment banking, capital markets, investment management and retail banking. Outside of our home markets we have operations in Finland, Sweden, UK, Luxembourg, US, Canada, China and Russia. We will furthermore open an office in India in the second half of 2008. Our international expansion is mainly driven by two specialised industry sectors - seafood and sustainable energy - in which we have developed significant industry expertise built on our Icelandic and Norwegian heritage. Our shares are listed on NasdaqOMX in Iceland under the symbol GLB. For more information: www.glitnirbank.com |
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