STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Board of Nordea AB (publ) today decided, within the framework of the authorisation by the Annual General Meeting, that the Company will repurchase a maximum of 150 million of its own shares (equivalent to approximately 5% of the total shares in the Company).
Repurchase of such shares may be made following the announcement of Nordea's second quarter result on 22 August 2002 and prior to the next Annual General Meeting. The decision to commence the repurchase of shares is subject to market conditions, regulatory restrictions and capital position at any given time. The purchases will be made on the Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen exchanges within the registered price interval on the exchanges in question at any such given time, whereby the interval is considered to be between the highest bid price and the lowest ask price.
The purpose of the acquisition is to redistribute funds to the Company's shareholders and in this way contribute to a more efficient utilisation of Nordea's resources. Following the announced sale of Nordea's general insurance business, the capacity to repurchase own shares will be enhanced. Nordea's Tier 1 capital ratio at 31 March 2002 was 7.2% and the total capital ratio was 9.2%. The net profit for the first quarter is not included in those ratios.
The impact of the repurchase on the Company's earnings per share and return on equity will be positive. The number of outstanding shares issued is presently 2,982 million (after full dilution through conversion of existing convertibles the number of shares would amount to 2,985 million).
Nordea currently owns 17 million of its own shares purchased in April 2001 with the purpose to achieve a hedge regarding the Company's incentive programme.
Recent developments
The sale of the general insurance business, announced earlier today, is expected to be reflected in the second quarter result. Nordea is not aware of other developments or substantial changes, beyond commonly known market conditions, which are expected to influence the result for the second quarter in any material way. Market conditions in the second quarter have been similar to those prevailing in the first quarter this year, with a largely unchanged macroeconomic situation, stable interest rates at a low level, and continued weakness in the Nordic and global equity markets. This is expected to be reflected in the second quarter result substantially in the same way as in the first quarter result.
Nordea's second quarter result will be announced on 22 August 2002.
For further information: Arne Liljedahl, Group CFO and Executive Vice President +46 8 614 7996 Sigurd Carlsen, Head of Investor Relations +46 8 614 7852 Erik Evren, Group Media Relations +46 8 614 8611
Nordea is the leading financial services group in the Nordic and BalticSea region and operates through four business areas: Retail Banking,Corporate and Institutional Banking, Asset Management & Life and GeneralInsurance. The Nordea Group has nearly 11 million customers, 1,245 bankbranches and 125 insurance service centres in 22 countries. The NordeaGroup is a world leader in Internet banking, with 3 million e-customers.The Nordea share is listed in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen.
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