Swedbank Q2 profit falls on restructuring costs; beats estimates on fees, trading
Swedbank reported lower second-quarter earnings on Friday as higher restructuring costs and credit impairments weighed, although the Swedish lender beat market expectations on stronger fee income and trading revenue.
Net profit for the April-June quarter fell 9% year-on-year to 7.20 billion Swedish crowns ($750 million), but came in 1% above Visible Alpha consensus cited by Jefferies analysts.
Profit before tax declined 9% to 9.15 billion crowns, while pre-provision operating profit was 1% ahead of consensus.
Total income rose 7% to 18.10 billion crowns, driven by higher commission income, trading gains and a modest increase in net interest income
Total expenses jumped 28% from a year earlier to 7.85 billion crowns, largely reflecting 860 million crowns in extraordinary restructuring costs.
Credit impairments more than doubled to 313 million crowns from 150 million crowns a year earlier, while return on equity eased to 14.2% from 15.4%.
Chief Executive Jens Henriksson said Swedbank continued to execute its 15/27 strategic plan, highlighting strong lending growth across its home markets, robust corporate advisory activity and 22 billion crowns of net inflows into its savings business during the quarter.
