ABG’s Q3 advisory surge offsets weaker capital-raising and brokerage revenue

ABG Sundal Collier’s revenue rose 25.0% in July–September 2026. Its 13 October results show advisory contributing more than the entire increase.[1][2]

A roughly NOK 20 million write-off accompanied the decision to discontinue the existing private-banking platform. Adding its reported NOK 0.026 after-tax effect to diluted EPS of NOK 0.151 gives NOK 0.177, versus NOK 0.136 a year earlier. Those rounded inputs produce adjusted growth of 30.1%, against reported growth of 11.0%.[1]

A different owner and a different earnings line

The partnership was announced on 15 September, before these results. Nordnet and ABG intend to own the new company equally and launch in Sweden in 2027, with further markets following. The initial team is expected to comprise 15–20 people. Nordnet supplies the digital investment platform and product reach; ABG supplies advice, discretionary portfolio management and research.[3]

The commercial design joins two complementary services. A self-directed investor can use a digital platform without delegating investment decisions; advice and discretionary management involve additional human work and, in the latter case, a mandate to manage the portfolio. The partners are proposing to combine those capabilities in one business. The announcement does not specify customer pricing or establish that existing accounts have already migrated.[3]

ABG expects the venture’s establishment to remove approximately NOK 50 million of current annual underlying costs from its consolidated cost base. Its 50% share of the venture’s net profit will instead enter equity-accounted investment income.[1]

That presentation changes how margins should be read. Under IAS 28, the investor recognises its share of a joint venture’s profit or loss; cash distributions are a separate movement in the investment’s carrying value. A lower consolidated expense line can therefore accompany an earnings contribution calculated after the venture has paid its own expenses. It does not mean those operating costs disappear from the economics of serving clients.[6]

An illustrative venture with NOK 100 million of revenue, NOK 80 million of operating costs and NOK 15 million of profit after other charges and tax would contribute NOK 7.5 million to a 50% investor under this simplified example. It would not contribute NOK 50 million of revenue and NOK 40 million of operating costs line by line. These are teaching assumptions, not forecasts for the Nordnet partnership.[6]

Denmark adds a separate acquisition effect

The annual report records the acquisition of all FIH Partners shares on 2 January 2026, with consolidation from that date and no accounting effect in 2025. This makes the two years different in business perimeter. The original agreement combined FIH with ABG’s existing Danish investment-banking operation, extending the team across M&A, equity and debt capital markets.[4][5]

The purchase terms comprise DKK 50 million upfront in cash and shares, a DKK 9.7 million excess-cash adjustment and up to DKK 150 million of additional consideration over four years, conditional on the combined Danish operation’s profitability. The calculated maximum is DKK 209.7 million including that adjustment; it is not the amount already paid or the accounting fair value of the contingent obligation. These Danish-krone amounts are separate from the Norwegian-krone results above.[4]

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