At the end of 2021 Arion Bank’s share capital amounted to ISK 1,660 million at nominal value. All of the company’s share capital is of a single class and each share is ISK 1 nominal value and entitles the owner to one vote. The shares are traded on Nasdaq Iceland and also on Nasdaq Stockholm in the form of Swedish depository receipts (SDRs) where one SDR equals one share. On 16 March 2021 the AGM of Arion Bank resolved to reduce share capital from ISK 1,730 million to ISK 1,660 million nominal value by cancelling 70 million own shares. The cancellation of own shares was announced on 19 April 2021. At year-end Arion Bank owned 140,623,501 of its own shares, equivalent to 8.54% of issued shares in the Bank. No voting rights are attached to the Bank’s own shares.

Major shareholders and transactions

Substantial changes to ownership stakes took place in 2021. Arion Bank increased its stake most through share buybacks. The Bank’s holding of own shares increased by 7.85 percentage points during the year. The shareholders which increased their stakes most in 2021 were LSR Pension Fund by 3.06 percentage points, Íslandsbanki by 1.84 percentage points and Brú Pension Fund by 1.72 percentage points. The biggest selling shareholders this year were Taconic Capital Advisors, which reduced its stake by 23.22 percentage points, Sculptor Capital Management by 6.12 percentage points and Eaton Vance by 1.50 percentage points.

At the end of December 2021 LSR Pension Fund was the largest shareholder in Arion Bank with a shareholding of 9.10%. Gildi Pension Fund was the second largest shareholder with a shareholding of 8.83%.

Source: Nasdaq Iceland, Euroclear Sweden and Modular Finance

At the end of 2021 approximately 91% of shareholders were Icelandic. Other shareholders were primarily from Germany, the United States, Sweden, Kuwait and the United Kingdom. The Bank had a total of approximately 11,300 shareholders at the end of 2021, an increase of 3,900, or 53% during the year.

Source: Nasdaq Iceland, Euroclear Sweden og Modular finance 

Trading and performance

Arion Bank shares performed positively in 2021 as the Bank published improved financial results and uncertainty over the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic receded. The share price on Nasdaq Iceland ended the year more than 101% up, while SDRs on Nasdaq Stockholm gained more than 119%. This difference is mainly due to the appreciation of the Icelandic króna against the Swedish krona. Domestic shares in Arion Bank made the biggest gains of any stock on the main list of the Icelandic stock exchange in 2021.

The average turnover with the Bank’s shares and SDRs was up compared with previous year. The average daily turnover was 7.6 million shares and 331,000 SDRs, or 8 million in total, compared with 4.9 million in 2020.

Share price performance – Arion Bank and Nordic banks

If Arion Bank’s share and SDR price is compared with selected listed banks of a similar size (mid cap) and larger (large cap), Arion Bank was the top performer in 2021.