Danske Bank losing customers as profits fall in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-02-06

Danske Bank, Denmark's largest bank, lost 23,600 customers but still reported pretax profit of 13.8 billion Danish kroner (2.03 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, according to the financial institution's annual accounts published on Wednesday.

The bank's profits generated in 2019 are six billion Danish kroner less than in 2018.

"The year was characterized by difficult market conditions, continued falling interest rates, slight deterioration in macroeconomic conditions and continued strong competition in all markets," said a statement in the annual accounts.

Danske Bank's Board of Directors decided that based on the results, a dividend of 8.5 Danish kroner per share should be paid to shareholders, the annual accounts revealed.

The total dividend corresponds to approximately half of the bank's profits in 2019. (1 Danish krone = 0.15 U.S. dollar)