The banks came out of the year with a profit of DKK 15 bn, corresponding to a decrease of 40 percent compared to 2019. The decline was primarily driven by a large increase in impairments. A total of DKK 9.5 bn was written down in 2020, while impairments before the COVID-19 crisis were historically low. Although banks have taken large impairments, they are still far from the level during the financial crisis.