A decline of billions for the banks in the first half of the year – interest income increased

The result after tax amounted to 0.54 per cent of the banks’ average total assets at the end of the first half of 2024, according to new figures from Statistics Norway’s (SSB) statistics for banks and credit institutions.

The figures show a weaker but still good result, writes SSB their websites.

The banks’ net interest, i.e. the difference between interest income and interest costs, increased by 4.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, to NOK 65.5 billion. The banks’ total income also increased by 28.9 per cent.

At the same time, costs increased by 39.1 per cent compared to the first half of 2023. The banks also suffered a credit loss on lending of NOK 3.6 billion, an increase of 2.9 per cent.

– Increased costs and credit losses on lending are some of the factors that contribute to the somewhat weaker result after tax in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023, writes SSB.

Deposits made up a larger share of the banks’ funding, and increased by 0.5 percentage points. Deposits thus accounted for 69.1 per cent of the banks’ debt. Lending made up 75.1 per cent of the banks’ assets at the end of the first half of the year, an increase of 1.0 percentage points.