Nordea beats earnings estimates in third quarter (updated)

Nordea Bank Abp

16/10/2025 05:53

Adds share move and analyst comment in paragraph 5, quote on return on equity in paragraph 8

Nordea's operating profit exceeds consensus despite 2% decline

EU-US trade deal, lower inflation and interest rates lift market confidence, CEO Vang-Jensen says

New 250-million-euro share buyback programme approved by ECB

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Nordea NDAFI.HE, the Nordic region's biggest bank, reported third-quarter operating earnings above market expectations on Thursday, helped by higher lending and deposit volumes as market sentiment showed signs of improvement.

Central bank rate cuts across the Nordic region have been weighing on banks' interest incomes 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.

"Some of the uncertainty around tariffs receded when the new EU-US trade agreement was struck. The Nordic economies also continued to benefit from lower inflation and interest rates – conditions that helped lift confidence," CEO Frank Vang-Jensen said in the earnings statement.

The Finnish bank's operating profit fell 2% to 1.60 billion euros ($1.87 billion), but exceeded the average estimate of 1.52 billion euros from analysts polled by LSEG.

Nordea's shares rose nearly 3% by 0747 GMT, with analyst Sauli Vilén from Finnish research firm Inderes saying the results were overall slightly better than expected.

Quarterly net interest income fell 6% to 1.78 billion euros, with lower interest rates partly offset by the increase in loans and deposits. Both mortgage lending and corporate lending increased by 6% from a year earlier, while deposits were up by 1%.

Net fee and commission income recovered, showing a 5% rise, supported by higher capital markets activity after the volatile spring and early summer, the lender said.

"Nordea's return on equity was strong at 15.8% in the third quarter, reflecting another solid performance and resilience despite muted sentiment due to ongoing geopolitical tensions," it said, reiterating the annual target of above 15% for the metric.

In a separate press release, Nordea said it had received an approval from the European Central Bank for a new 250-million-euro share buyback programme, which it expects to launch on October 20.

($1 = 0.8578 euros)

(Reporting by Elviira Luoma in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((Elviira.luoma@thomsonreuters.com))