It has been one big party for the banks, after the key interest rate was raised several times after the corona pandemic. It stands at 4.5 per cent now, and the interest income customers with mortgages means that many can show gigantic financial results for 2023. Figures from Statistics Norway show that the banks could report a total result of NOK 88.5 billion for 2023. It is a an increase of NOK 17.2 billion from 2022. The same applies to Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge, which had an annual profit of NOK 3.2 billion before tax. Employees get tens of thousands This is good news for the bank’s employees, who can now expect a hefty bonus. – In reality, we do not have any bonus schemes. But if we deliver very good results and meet a number of measurement parameters, then we have a scheme that we call “profit sharing”. It has come to fruition this year. This means that our employees receive assets, or shares if you like, in their own company as an appreciation. That’s what Stein Vidar Loftås, executive vice president for communications at Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge, says. Stein Vidar Loftås says that they understand that the signal may be wrong for many, but that the bonus to the employees was deserved. Photo: Petter Strøm / news – What is the estimated value of these? – There is a total value of 40,000 before tax. – Has this been a tradition over the years? – It is an arrangement we have had for a few years, but which has not come to fruition before. – Why? – There are sharp targets that have been set, and we will hit quite a few parameters. It is not easy, and that is the explanation for it. Several banks are following Sparebank 1 in Northern Norway is not alone. The Finansforbundet’s member magazine, Finansfokus, writes that SR-Bank gives its employees 10 per cent of their gross salary as a bonus. DNB gives its employees NOK 33,000 in bonus, while Sparebank 1 Gudbrandsdal gives over NOK 50,000 to each employee. DNB is one of the banks that gives a good random bonus payment to its employees. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Stein Vidar Loftås says that he understands that the signal given by the bonus party can be perceived as wrong by many. – We see that banks, including us, are criticized for delivering large profits during a period when many are struggling. I understand that, in the same way that I understand that a profit sharing like this can to a certain extent be perceived as problematic from the outside. – At the same time, we want to appreciate our employees when the group delivers very good results, and it is important to act in accordance with the intentions the bank has signaled to our employees through the profit sharing scheme. And we, like other employers, are completely dependent on the effort our employees put in. That is the explanation for it. – But there is almost a unison profit party in Norwegian banks during the day. Surely there are some external factors that make things go so well, and not just the efforts of the employees? – Yes of course. There is a connection. When interest rates rise rapidly, as they have done now, it will affect results. Money is the commodity we sell, and a higher interest rate gives a higher result. The results from all banks are an indication of that. But we cannot do it in a vacuum, so we are dependent on the employees’ efforts. Regardless of whether the interest rate is high or low. – The competition is too bad Morten Andreas Meyer, secretary general of the Home Owners’ National Association says that this is a clear sign that consumers may have something to beat the table with at the banks. – What these bonus payments tell us is that there is plenty of room for us to negotiate a better interest rate on our mortgage. It should provide a basis for us as customers to make tougher demands on the conditions we should get. Meyer asks people to contact the bank to make demands for a lower interest rate and better conditions than they have today. – There are far too few who refrain from making demands, and have an old-fashioned perception of what a bank is, that they are kind who lend us money. We are the customers, and there is no reason to stand with hat in hand. Morten Andreas Meyer, secretary general of the Home Owners’ National Association, says that people should phone their bank now. Photo: Johan B. Sættem Rødt-Mimir: – Shouldn’t get a bonus for poverty Mímir Kristjánsson is a member of the labor and social committee at the Storting. He says that it is unsympathetic that people get bonuses because the entire population of Norway is less well off. – No one should earn a bonus from people becoming poor. It is ridiculous that a bonus should be paid for people getting worse advice. – Is there anything you think should be done politically to “correct” this? – There are many things we can do. Among other things, we can buy up the rest of DNB, so that the state has its own bank, where no one will earn 15 million a year, and no one will receive bonuses. If the private banks can’t compete with that, then they don’t have the right of life. Mímir Kristjánsson (R) believes that the banks should never give out bonuses so that people can afford worse. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – Do you understand that paying out shares to employees can cause reactions?, we ask Stein Ivar Loftås at Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge. – Yes, I understand that. – But you still do it? – Yes, we have an established arrangement. So we need to be predictable towards our employees. If we were to suddenly say that “It does not apply now, because it can be perceived as unmusical”, then it would be perceived as unmusical internally. So we need to stand by what we have promised.
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Bank employees get shares worth NOK 40,000 after huge results – news Nordland
