SEB Earnings Beat Views As Swedish Economy Rebounds

16 Jul 2013

Swedish bank SEB AB (SEB-A.SK) Monday reported a stronger-than-expected rise in second-quarter net profit, helped by growing net interest and commission income, and said activity among its customers is picking up as Sweden's economy is rebounding somewhat.

Main Facts:

• Second-quarter net profit rose to SEK3.79 billion from SEK2.96 billion against analysts' expectations for SEK3.27 billion.
• Net interest income rose to SEK4.68 billion from SEK4.53 billion against expectations for SEK4.54 billion.
• Net fee and commission income rose to SEK3.81 billion from SEK3.45 billion.
• Net credit losses widened to SEK291 million from SEK269 million against expectations for SEK285 million.
• The Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio under Basel III rules -- a measure of banks' financial strength -- improved to 14.2% in June 2013 from 13.1% in December 2012.

"In SEB's main market, the Nordic region, the Swedish economy has rebounded somewhat although the export sector is still hampered by the low growth in Europe," Chief Executive Annika Falkengren said.

"All in all, we see a cautiously more positive business sentiment among our customers with activity levels picking up," she said.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130715-700135.html