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Best bank: Danske Bank |
Measured by total assets, Danske Bank Group is the largest financial enterprise in Denmark and one of the largest in the Nordic region. The group offers Danish and international customers a wide range of services covering banking, mortgage finance, insurance, leasing, real-estate brokerage and asset management.
Like all Danish banks, Danske has become reliant on the state to support it during a downturn that has led to large increases in bad corporate loans. It has been able to draw on DKr26 billion ($4.9 billion) of hybrid capital that has at least insulated the bank against the worst potential effects on its funding costs of ratings downgrades. Loan impairments were lower in the first quarter of 2009 than in the fourth quarter of 2008, although they were still substantial against Danish SMEs in the consumer durables, commercial property and transport sectors.
The bank is at least receiving some benefit from higher lending margins.