This is to warn against smishing attempts sent in Landsbankinn’s name.

The Icelandic króna appreciated against the currencies of our main trading partners in May and has not been that strong since Mars 2020. Turnover in the interbank foreign exchange market was ISK 35.5bn in May. The CBI's share of this was ISK 2.1 bn, or 5.8% of total turnover.

GDP decreased by 1.7% YoY in Q1.

Eignadreifing sjálfbær is a new investment fund of Landsbréf, a subsidiary of Landsbankinn. The fund's objective is to achieve a good rate of return and risk diversification, guided by sustainability.

Perla Ösp Ásgeirsdóttir, Managing Director of Risk Management at Landsbankinn, has resigned her position with the Bank and ceased employment.  

The annual rate of inflation decreased from 4.6% to 4.4% in May.

Variable interest rates on non-indexed housing mortgages increase by 0.15 percentage points (pp). Fixed rates on non-indexed housing mortgages are unchanged. Interest rates on inflation-indexed housing mortgages, both variable and fixed, are also unchanged. 

Landsbankinn's Asset Management has partnered with international investment bank Goldman Sachs. As a result, Landsbankinn’s customers can now invest in investment funds offered by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Last week, Landsbankinn Economic Research published an economic forecast for 2021-2023.

Landsbankinn achieved its best rating yet in a new ESG risk rating from Sustainalytics and now ranks no. 1 of the 423 banks the company assesses in Europe.

The forecast of Landsbankinn Economic Research for the years 2021-2023 assumes that recovery will begin in the second quarter of 2021 and that GDP will grow by 5% during the year. Good progress of immunisation programmes, both domestically and in main trading partner countries, indicates that the travel sector will be quicker to regain its feet than assumed last fall.

Arion Bank, Íslandsbanki and Landsbankinn published Q1 results last week.

At the end of the month, the euro stood at ISK 149.6, compared to ISK 148.1 at the end of March, and the US dollar stood at ISK 123.8, compared to ISK 126.3 at the end of March.

Arion Bank, Íslandsbanki and Landsbankinn published Q1 results last week.

An open presentation of the public offering of shares in Síldarvinnslan, held in Harpan on Thursday, 6 May, was very successful. The meeting was open to the public and attended by a large audience, both physically and live online.

The Bank’s profit in the first three months of 2021 amounted to ISK 7.6 billion. Return on equity (ROE) was 11.7%.

The CPI based on prices in mid-April increased by 0.71% month-on-month, bringing the headline inflation to 4.6%.

As a result of an error at SaltPay (previously Borgun), transactions with Visa payment cards made on Thursday 22 April were duplicated.

Last week the IMF released Staff Concluding Statement of its recent Article IV Mission and the government introduced stricter border measures.

Last week the CBI released its bi-annual Financial Stability report and the statement of the Financial Stability Committee.

We will reopen Landsbankinn's branches as soon as changes to restrictions on gatherings enter into force on Thursday, 15 April. Please continue to make appointments to visit us, to help us uphold the 2-metre distance rule and ensure that we respect the 20 persons rule. By making an appointment, you also avoid unnecessary waiting.

During the period 16-18 April, Arion Bank in collaboration with the Icelandic Banks' Data Centre (RB), will implement a new deposit and payment system. During the implementation process, there will be some disruption to Arion Bank’s services, such as that information about transfers to accounts with Arion Bank will not appear immediately on its customers’ statements.

At the end of March, the EUR/ISK stood at 148.2, compared to 152.9 at the end of February, and the exchange rate index decreased (the króna strengthened) by 1.8%. The CBI will reduce its regular currency sales as of the beginning of April.

The Minister of Health issued amended rules at the borders on testing and quarantine.

The Minister of Health issued amended rules at the borders on testing and quarantine.

Last week the MPC held policy rates unchanged, in line with our expectations. The CPI increased by 0.49% between months bringing the year on year change to 4.3%.

The annual general meeting of Landsbankinn, held on 24 March 2021, agreed to pay a dividend amounting to ISK 4,489 million to shareholders. The dividend is equivalent to 42.7% of 2020 profits. As a result, total dividends paid by the Bank in 2013-2021 will amount to around ISK 146 bn. Three new individuals were elected to the Board of Directors at the AGM.

Landsbankinn’s services will change as of 25 March to reflect tighter restrictions on gatherings enacted to slow the spread of Covid-19. We encourage customers to use Landsbankinn’s app, online banking and ATMs as much as possible. A great deal of banking business can be tended to through these channels, simply and quickly.

The Annual General Meeting of Landsbankinn will be held on Wednesday, 24 March 2021. Proposals for the AGM and information about candidates for election to the Board of Directors are available on the Bank’s website.

We expect the MPC to hold policy rates unchanged on Wednesday. On Thursday, Statistics Iceland will release CPI numbers for March.