Morrow Bank: Impressive speed and EPS up 15% y/y

3 things to focus on; Growth, Losses and MedMera - in total, we are impressed

  • Gross Q/Q growth came in at 1.9% when you exclude effects from NPL sale (and you should). H1 growth is 6.3% and Y/Y growth is 19%. Effects from the new product launch in Norway are history. Take a moment to consider the fact that the bank has moved to Sweden, has bought MedMera and is preparing for the merger. To keep the growth at such a high level (H1) in such a situation can be summarised in one word. Impressive 💪

  • Loan losses at 3.5% down from 4.1% in Q1. Very strong, but we need to dig deeper to understand the potential long-term effects. Another NPL sale at a profit must be read as a positive credit quality statement. 

  • MedMera grew 5% in H1 vs Q4, reduced C/I ratio from 32% to 31% and increased ROE from 12% to 13% vs FY-25. Impressive given the situation.

2 elements that are short-term noise

  • NIM down to 6.36% (on total assets) is noise since we have a necessary liquid assets build-up due to the MedMera acquisition. There is no sign of margin pressure according to management. This will normalise in H2.

  • C/I came in at 30.4% (or 27.7% adjusted) driven by one-off acquisition-related costs, some remaining duplicate costs from the move to Sweden and some resources used to prepare for the merger. Our own cost estimate missed by only 3 MSEK, so no big surprise here 😁.

 

With EPS at 0.31 up 15% from last year we are more than happy and impressed by how management balances multiple activities. 

Disclaimer:
Hvaler Invest is a significant shareholder so you cannot trust us (or perhaps you can?)

Best regards,
David and Sverre

 
 

Hvaler Invest AS
Lillestrøm, Norway
13.05.26