By Niklas Pollard
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish bank SEB reported a net profit for the fourth quarter that narrowly lagged market expectations on Wednesday and proposed a lower-than-expected total dividend for the year.
Net profit at the bank, which is more focused on corporate clients than some of its domestic peers, dipped to 7.49 billion Swedish crowns ($683 million) from a year-ago 8.37 billion to come in just short of the 7.65 billion seen in a poll of estimates collected by LSEG.
The bank proposed an ordinary and special dividend to shareholders totalling 11.5 crowns per share for the year, unchanged from a year earlier and below the 12.73 crowns per share seen by analysts according to LSEG.
CEO Johan Torgeby said in a statement the return on equity for the bank had been dented in the quarter by declining interest rates, less buoyant net financial income level and costs for the integration of payment service provider AirPlus.
SEB, a key pillar of the investment sphere centered on Sweden’s Wallenberg family, is the second of Sweden’s top banks to report on the fourth quarter after Swedbank delivered forecast-beating profits last week.
After benefitting from a strong tailwind from soaring central bank rates in recent years, rate cuts by the likes of Sweden’s Riksbank have begun weighing on interest income for the country’s banks though the impact has been fairly muted so far.
The more than 165-year-old bank reported interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, of 10.82 billion crowns compared to 12.10 billion a year ago and a mean analysts’ estimate of 10.59 billion.
SEB said in a statement it had set a target for costs to be 33 billion crowns this year, including AirPlus, after spending hit 30.9 billion in 2024, in line with company guidance.
($1 = 10.9729 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Niklas Pollard, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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