Helgeland Sparebank (HELG) published Q1 last night with a net profit some 51% below our estimate. NII was solid despite a flat lending book q/q and impairments lower than feared. However, expenses related to the new banking cooperation and higher negative MtM adjustments lowered the result much more. The BoD also decided to counter their previous decision regarding the dividend for 2019 and propose to pay a modest 25%, equal to a NOK 2.7 (0) DPS.
