Danske Bank to buy back shares for first time since 2018

The Copenhagen-based bank will buy shares for 5.5 billion kroner €735 million) this year, it said on Friday. It also provided a 2024 forecast that exceeded most analyst estimates. The shares rose as much as 6.1 per cent in the Danish capital at the market open.

Danske suspended share buy-backs in 2018 to gird for potential penalties linked to its money laundering scandal in the Estonian branch. In late 2022, the lender settled a $2 billion (€1.8 billion) fine with US and Danish authorities.

“Capital distributions are the key positive today,” Jefferies International analysts Alexander Demetriou and Joseph Dickerson said in a note. The new buyback, which starts next week, is coming earlier than anticipated, they said.

Danske will pay a dividend for the second half of 2023 of 7.5 kroner (€1) a share, which exceeded Bloomberg dividend projections of 7 kroner. The lender sees 2024 net income of 20-22 billion kroner (€2.7 – €2.9 billion), which compares with an average analyst estimate of 20 billion kroner (€2.7 billion). – Bloomberg