Danske Bank's Q1 Performance Lower on Volatile Trading Line; Estonia Case Enters Last Stage

For the first quarter, narrow-moat Danske reported profits before tax of DKK 3,707 million, down 9% versus the same period a year ago. Performance was decent, however, as the decline in profits came primarily from the volatile trading income line as well as negative investment results in the insurance business. Both tend to fluctuate and as such do not cause great concern to us. We maintain our fair value estimate of DKK 170 per share.