BankNordik: DKK 250m dividend announced, corresponding to 15% of market cap - Nordea

On January 26th 2023, BankNordik published a statement in which the bank narrowed its 2022E net profit guidance to DKK 160-170m and announced its 2023 net profit guidance of DKK 190-220m. The 2024 targets were also revised in the statement and hence, capital distribution was the center of attention when the report was published this morning. BankNordik announced that it expects to distribute DKK 115m in ordinary dividends, corresponding to 70% of net profit for 2022 and also proposes an extraordinary dividend of DKK 135m to be distributed to shareholders, in line with our estimates. The total dividend payment of DKK 250m corresponds to 15% of the bank’s current market cap and supports the proposed 2024 target of a CET-1 ratio equal to 20%. Moreover, costs came in strong in Q4 at DKK 58m versus our estimate of DKK 65m. Asset quality also remained strong with BankNordik reporting reversals of DKK 3m, on par with our estimate. BankNordik is currently trading at a 2024E P/E of 6.8x and 5.8x adjusted for this dividend which puts the bank at an attractive valuation compared to most of its Danish peers.