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Best bank: Danske Bank Best debt house: Barclays Capital Best equity house: Danske Bank Best M&A house: Credit Suisse
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Danske Bank remains the dominant player of the Danish banking market, with almost one-third of the banking market and assets many times larger than its nearest rival. While others, such as second-placed Nordea and Jyske Bank may be growing more rapidly – Jyske Bank increased its core earnings by 14% in 2007 – Danske is no slouch either. Its assets grew around 14% in 2007 and shareholders have enjoyed a compound five-year growth rate in total equity of 11.86% – impressive for a bank that totally dominates its market – while return on equity is still a respectable 15.1%.
In the past year, Danske Bank has merged its Danish unit with BG Bank on the grounds that the activities of the two business areas had become so similar that maintaining two separate brands no longer added value.