COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest lender, reported third-quarter net profit slightly above expectations on Friday, supported by stable net interest income, and said it expected full-year net profit to be at the upper end of its guided range.
Nordic banks have seen central bank rate cuts across the region weigh on interest income over the past year while uncertainty over U.S. tariffs and any European retaliation has clouded the outlook for lenders and the economies they serve.
Danske Bank said its net profit fell to 5.52 billion Danish crowns ($862 million) in the third quarter from 6.17 billion a year earlier, slightly beating the 5.42 billion expected by 15 analysts on average in a company provided poll.
The bank still expects net profit for the year of between 21 billion and 23 billion crowns, but said it now forecast the result would be at the upper end of its range.
INTEREST INCOME RESILIENT
“Our financial performance was driven by resilient net interest income, continually strong net fee income, effective cost management and low impairments as a result of the strong credit quality of our loan portfolio,” CEO Carsten Egeriis said in a statement.
Danske Bank said net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, fell slightly to 9.07 billion crowns from 9.17 billion a year ago, but came in just above the 8.98 billion seen by analysts.
Danske Bank, the last of the large Nordic banks to release quarterly results, said the Danish economy continued to demonstrate resilience and that Nordic businesses remained cautiously optimistic in the face of global uncertainty.
“The lower interest rates and rising real incomes are supportive for the economy. This is the case for Denmark and the other Nordic countries,” it said.
($1 = 6.4029 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Stine Jacobsen and Conor Humphries)
