PRESS RELEASE August 9, 2007 First half-year 2007: CONTINUED STRONG DEMAND FOR EXPORT LOANS The Eksportfinans group experienced a record strong demand for new export loans during the first half-year of 2007. Total lending from the group was NOK 112.7 billion at June 30, 2007, compared to NOK 85.0 billion at the same time in 2006. New lending from the group was NOK 19.7 billion, compared to NOK 14.9 billion in the equivalent period in 2006. Supported by a strong demand for products offered by the Norwegian maritime industry, Eksportfinans experienced continued growth in both volumes and results in the first half-year 2007. New export related lending reached NOK 10.2 billion. The growth in total export related loans in the first six months of 2007 was NOK 6.3 billion (15 percent increase). An environment of higher interest rate levels made the officially supported fixed rate financing scheme1 The CIRR rate regulated by the OECD favorable compared to financing on market terms. The volume of the overall order book was approximately NOK 36 billion at June 30, 2007, compared to NOK 18 billion at the same time in 2006. Local government lending Total outstanding loans from Eksportfinans' wholly owned subsidiary Kommunekreditt Norge AS at June 30, 2007 amounted to NOK 64.1 billion, compared to NOK 52.0 billion at June 30, 2006 and NOK 57.1 billion at year-end 2006. Kommunekreditt disbursed NOK 9.5 billion in new loans in the first half-year of 2007, with a corresponding amount in the same period in 2006 of NOK 3.8 billion. Funding In the first six months of 2007, Eksportfinans borrowed a total of NOK 38.5 billion through 375 individual funding transactions, compared with NOK 30.5 billion and 341 trades in the same period in 2006. One year after its launch, Eksportfinans' proprietary web-based platform for pricing, execution and documentation of structured Medium Term Notes has been adopted by 23 arranging banks. The platform, eFunding, has since its launch generated 12,500 individual price quotes, and the percentage of all activities under Eksportfinans' Euro Medium Term Note Program conducted online via eFunding is now approximately 40. Results The net interest income for the Eksportfinans group was NOK 259 million in the first half-year of 2007. This represents an increase of NOK 45 million compared to the corresponding period in 2006, and the increase is mainly due to higher volumes of lending and liquidity placements. Group base profit in the first half-year of 2007 was NOK 127 million, an increase of NOK 16 million compared to the same period 2006. The base profit reflects the profit excluding net unrealized gains or losses on certain financial instruments at fair value, net of tax effect. These unrealized gains or losses on other financial instruments derive as a consequence of the implementations of IFRS2 In accordance with IFRS, Eksportfinans measures a large volume of financial instruments at fair value. The fair value may vary from one reporting period to another. . Profit for the first half-year 2007 was NOK 97 million, compared to NOK 70 million in the same period last year. The complete half-year report is published on www.eksportfinans.no. Key Figures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | First half-year | First half-year 2006 | | | 2007 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | New export lending | NOK 10.2 billion | NOK 11.1 billion | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | New loans to Norwegian public | NOK 9.5 billion | NOK 3.8 billion | | sector | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | New funding | NOK 38.5 billion | NOK 30.8 billion | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Total assets | NOK 186.9 billion | NOK 150.3 billion | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Capital adequacy | 12.1 % | 14.0% | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Base profit for the period | NOK 127 million | NOK 111 million | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Profit for the period | NOK 97 million | NOK 70 million | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Loan losses | 0 | 0 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Eksportfinans ASA has the international credit ratings AAA from Moody's, | | AA+ from Standard & Poor's and AAA from Fitch Ratings | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, please contact: Elise Lindbæk Head of Communication Telephone +47 22 01 22 64 Mobile phone +47 90 51 82 50 E-mail el@eksportfinans.no Eksportfinans is the Norwegian institute for the financing of exports - the banks' and the Norwegian state's joint institution for developing and offering competitive, long-term financing services to the export and municipal sectors. For more information about Eksportfinans, www.eksportfinans.no
Second quarter results 2007
| Source: Eksportfinans ASA