Nordea Raises Guidance After Beating 2Q Net Profit Views

By Dominic Chopping

Nordea Bank on Monday raised guidance and posted a forecast-beating second-quarter net profit as net-interest margins improved and corporate lending grew.

The Helsinki-based bank posted net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.34 billion euros ($1.5 billion), from EUR1.06 billion in the same period a year earlier, as net-interest income rose 40% to EUR1.83 billion.

A poll of analysts by FactSet had forecast net profit of EUR1.26 billion and net interest income of EUR1.8 billion.

"It is clear that the economic slowdown and interest rate increases have had a negative impact on our business volume growth, mainly in mortgages," Chief Executive Frank Vang-Jensen said.

"Our corporate lending volumes continue to grow, particularly in Norway and Sweden."

Full-year 2023 return on equity is now expected to be above 15%, from above 13% previously. Nordea maintained its full-year 2025 financial target of return on equity above 13%, supported by a cost-to-income ratio of 45%-47% and an annual net loan loss ratio of around 10 basis points.

"We are reassessing our long-term financial target for 2025. We will provide a target update in conjunction with the release of our fourth quarter report," Vang-Jensen said.

Nordea's common equity Tier 1 ratio was 16.0%, from 16.6% a year earlier.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2023 01:21 ET (05:21 GMT)

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