The bank's net fee and commission income declined 12% to 812
million euros due to a 13% decline year-on-year in its assets
under management and continued lower capital markets activity,
the bank said.
Net interest income climbed 31% to 1.64 billion euros while
analysts on average had expected 1.53 billion.
($1 = 0.9075 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen, editing by Terje Solsvik and
Janane Venkatraman)
(Recasts, adds details)
HELSINKI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Finnish banking group Nordea posted a bigger-than-expected gain in fourth-quarter
operating profits on Thursday and said the growth of its return
on equity would level off in 2023 to a level similar to 2022.
The Nordic region's biggest lender said its return on equity
rose to 13.5% last year from 11.2% in 2021 and is expected to
exceed 13% also in 2023 despite a high degree of macroeconomic
uncertainty.
Nordea and its Nordic peers have seen a year of rapid rate
hikes by central banks seeking to curb inflation, boosting the
banking industry's interest income and profits while credit
losses have remained subdued.
The bank's fourth-quarter profit grew 26% year-on-year,
driven by a sharp rise in interest rates and strong corporate
lending, beating analyst expectations.
Nordea reported an operating profit of 1.6 billion euros
($1.76 billion) in the quarter, up from 1.28 billion a year ago.
A Refinitiv poll of analysts had estimated a mean of 1.49
billion euros.
Nordea's board proposed a dividend of 0.80 euros per share
for 2022, up 16% from 0.69 euros per share for 2021, while
analysts, on average, had predicted a payout of 0.76 euros.
"For 2023, our plan is to remain focused on maintaining
strict cost control and growing revenues faster than costs while
continuing to invest to strengthen the bank," Chief Executive
Frank Vang-Jensen said in a statement.
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