NIB publishes Interim Financial Report January–September 2020

NIB has published its interim management statement for the nine-month period January-September 2020. The Bank agreed EUR 3,941 million in new loans, significantly up from EUR 1,608 million in same period one year ago. NIB disbursed EUR 3,482 million during the nine-month period, a sharp upturn from EUR 1,799 million year-on-year. This is mainly due to the Bank’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Nordic and Baltic ministers urged the Bank to support the member countries’ businesses to the widest extent possible to overcome the COVID-19 crisis on 27 March. This resulted in a significant increase in lending activity compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

NIB’s mission is to finance projects that contribute to the productivity and benefit the environment of the Nordic and Baltic countries. Before approval is given in each individual case, all eligible projects are evaluated and rated against criteria based on the Bank’s mission. In the nine-month period that ended on 30 September 2020, projects achieving a “good” or “excellent” mandate rating accounted for 96% of the total amount of loans agreed, exceeding the target of 90%.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NIB provided “response loans” to alleviate the social and economic impact of the pandemic and to support the recovery process in its member countries. These “response loans” are tracked separately and are not included in the standard mandate-rating.

In order to support the Bank’s COVID-19 response the 2020 funding plan has been increased accordingly. By the end of September, the Bank had raised EUR 7 billion (January–September 2019: EUR 4 billion) in new funding. On 31 March, NIB issued a three-year, EUR 1 billion NIB Response bond. On 2 April, the Bank issued a SEK 4 billion NIB Response Bond due April 2023.

The net profit for the nine-month period ended 30 September amounted to EUR 119 million compared to EUR 123 million in 2019. The change in net profit is mainly due to unrealised gains on financial instruments offset by an increase in expected credit loss provisions. The Bank has increased its expected credit loss provision due to the negative market sentiment. There have been no realised loan losses during the year to date.

NIB’s Interim Financial Report January – September 2020 (PDF)

Key figures and ratios
(in EUR million unless otherwise specified)	Jan-Sep 2020	Jan-Sep 2019	Jan-Dec 2019
Net interest income	152	160	212
Profit before net loan losses	154	118	183
Net profit	119	123	182
Loans disbursed	3,482	1,799	2,676
Loans agreed	3,941	1,608	3,316
Mandate fulfilment (%)	96%	99%	98%
Lending outstanding	20,582	18,692	18,931
Total assets	35,830	32,722	32,653
New debt issues	6,946	3,847	4,909
Debts evidenced by certificates	29,603	26,287	26,674
Total equity	3,814	3,673	3,735
Equity/total assets (%)	10.6%	11.2%	11.4%
Profit/average equity (%)	4.3%	4.5%	5.0%
Cost/income (%)	19.5%	23.7%	21.9%
Number of employees at period end	224	225	229

*Unaudited figures, to be read in conjunction with NIB’s 2019 audited financial statements.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact

Mr Björn Ordell, Head of Risk & Finance and CFO, at +358 10 618 0210, bjorn.ordell@nib.int

Mr Jukka Ahonen, Head of Communications, at +358 10 618 0295, jukka.ahonen@nib.int