The Swedbank logo is seen outside a branch in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 18, 2023. REUTERS
STOCKHOLM, April 29 (Reuters) – Swedish banking group Swedbank on Wednesday reported first-quarter net profit in line with estimates and said the economic outlook was uncertain due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Nordic country’s biggest mortgage lender said in a statement its net profit fell 10% to 7.35 billion Swedish crowns ($792 million) from a year-ago 8.20 billion, in line with a mean forecast of 7.36 billion in a LSEG poll of analysts.
“It’s a stable quarter in a shaky world,” CEO Jens Henriksson told reporters.
Swedbank, whose rivals include Handelsbanken and Nordea , said its net interest income, which includes revenue from mortgages, fell 3% to 11.15 billion crowns from 11.49 billion a year ago, above the 10.86 billion seen by analysts.
Swedbank said it would take a 1.3 billion crown cost this year due to a restructuring that would lower the yearly costs by 1 billion crowns per year from 2028 and onwards and decrease the number of employees by 500 to around 16,800.
“We are making some changes to how we handle cards within the group. This will allow us to eliminate duplication of work and simplify processes,” Henriksson said.
Reporting by Johan Ahlander, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Terje Solsvik
