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☆ European stocks close lower as traders focus on earnings and bond yields
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-23 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

European markets closed lower Wednesday as investors in the region focused on corporate reports and U.S. Treasury yields. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed around 0.3% lower, with most sectors and major bourses in the red. There were earnings aplenty on Wednesday, with Deutsche Bank beating expectations in its return to profit in the three months to September. Shares of the German lender continued their decline after a German court ruled against the company in a long-standing legal dispute with shareholders who alleged the lender underpaid in its acquisition of German retail bank Postbank. Volvo Cars traded 5.9% lower, AkzoNobel was down 3.5% and L'Oreal fell 2.5% after the firms reported earnings earlier.

Persons: Heineken, AkzoNobel Organizations: Treasury, Deutsche Bank, Volvo, L'Oreal

☆ Sweden's Riksbank has done a good job overall, says Swedbank CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSweden's Riksbank has done a good job overall, says Swedbank CEOJens Henriksson, CEO of Swedbank, says Sweden's central bank has been a "steady hand in a difficult time," particularly when it comes to wage agreements and inflation expectations.

Persons: Jens Henriksson

☆ Only 2 stocks in Europe have beaten estimates for 5 quarters and rallied each time
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Only two European stocks have positively surprised markets every quarter for the past five quarters, according to analysis by CNBC Pro. CNBC Pro screened for stocks that report EPS figures and have analysts' estimates available on FactSet. Most recently, on Feb. 5, the company beat earnings estimates by 6.1% and shares rallied more than 8% in the following session. Four quarters ago, the stock rallied by 12.8% in a single session following earnings. Many banking stocks, such as France's Societe Generale , Spain's Banco de Sabadell , Germany's Commerzbank and Sweden's Swedbank , beat earnings-per-share estimates over the past five quarters.

Persons: UniCredit, Germany's, Sweden's Organizations: CNBC Pro, Portugal's Banco Comercial Portugues, Generale, Spain's, Sabadell, Deutsche Bank, CNBC Locations: Europe, Milan

☆ Swedbank CEO sees tough spring for Swedish economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSwedbank CEO sees tough spring for Swedish economySwedbank CEO Jens Henriksson discusses the lender's fourth-quarter earnings and gives his outlook for Sweden's economy and central bank action.

Persons: Jens Henriksson

☆ Exclusive: Four banks quit initiative assessing climate targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Tommy Wilkes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Four major banks, including Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L) and HSBC Plc (HSBA.L), have quit a United Nations-backed initiative to scrutinise climate targets set by corporations, according to people familiar with the matter. Many lenders say they should finance fossil fuels as long as economies depend on them. The spokesperson added that Standard Chartered was seeking alternative third-party validation of its climate targets and that it was setting science-based targets through the NZBA. It will still require them to cease the financing of fossil fuel projects that would weigh on their longer-term emissions targets. Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA), ING (INGA.AS), BBVA (BBVA.MC) and Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) told Reuters they remained committed to SBTi validating their emissions targets.

Persons: SBTi, SBTi's, Pietro Rocco, haven't, it's, Rocco, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Simon Jessop, Josie Kao Organizations: Standard Chartered, HSBC Plc, United, Societe Generale SA, ABN Amro Bank, Zero Banking Alliance, HSBC, Societe Generale, ABN Amro, Reuters, Credit, ING, BBVA, NatWest, Commerzbank, BNP, Allianz, Alliance, Zero, Carbon Trust, Thomson Locations: United Nations, Nations, Paris, U.S, decarbonising, London

☆ Danske Bank profits beat forecasts on interest income boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) on Friday reported a bigger than expected third-quarter profit, boosted primarily by high interest income, and narrowed its full-year earnings guidance, sending its shares up more than 6%. Danske Bank's results mirror those of rival Nordic banks SEB (SEBa.ST) and Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), which also beat analysts expectations when they published third-quarter results earlier this week. Danske, Denmark's biggest bank, narrowed its 2023 guidance for full-year net profit to a range of 19.5 billion-20.5 billion crowns, from 18.5 billion-20.5 billion previously. Danske's net interest income was up at 9.32 billion crowns from a year earlier 6.29 billion, and just above the 9.09 billion forecast by an LSEG poll of analysts. The bank said it expects net interest income to grow further based on the announced central bank rate hikes.

Persons: Danske, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Jane Merriman Organizations: Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, Denmark's

[1/3] The Standard Chartered bank logo is seen at their headquarters in London, Britain, July 26, 2022. The broader European banking index (.SX7P) fell as much as 2.4% to its lowest in four months by 1017 GMT. Top fallers on the index were Standard Chartered, down 9%, Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), down 7% and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), down around 4%. Concerns about China's economic fragility are also hitting some European banks with major operations in Asia. Sabadell (SABE.MC) rose around 3.7% after raising its outlook for 2023 net interest income growth on the back of higher interest rates.

Persons: Peter Nicholls, Chris Hiorns, Banks, Hiorns, Angelo Meda, Meda, Iain Withers, Naomi Rovnick, Joice Alves, Jesus Aguado, Danilo Masoni, Amanda Cooper, John Stonestreet, Toby Chopra Organizations: Chartered, REUTERS, BNP, European Central Bank, Traders, SIM, Sabadell, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, LONDON, Milan, Asia, Madrid

☆ Swedbank beats Q3 profit estimates, says economy "remains resilient"
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Tom Little/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Swedish banking group Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) reported a bigger-than-expected third-quarter net profit on Thursday, and said the economy remained resilient despite turbulence and higher interest rates. Sweden's biggest mortgage lender posted a net profit of 9.13 billion crowns ($817 million), well above a forecast of 8.57 billion crowns in a LSEG poll of analysts. It had posted a profit of 5.59 billion crowns in the year-ago period. Swedbank, a rival to lenders such as Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST), Nordea (NDAFI.HE) and SEB (SEBa.ST), said interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, rose to 12.9 billion crowns from 8.36 billion crowns a year ago, slightly beating expectations. Swedbank booked loan loss provisions of 347 million crowns, down from 602 million crowns in the year-ago quarter, and below analysts' expectations of losses of 583 million crowns.

Persons: Tom Little, Jens Henriksson, SEB, Swedbank, Johan Ahlander, Anna Ringstrom Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Swedish, Swedbank

☆ Bank SEB's Q3 operating profit jumps 42%, beats expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Nordic bank SEB group logo is seen outside a branch in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 18, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Swedish bank SEB (SEBa.ST) reported a 42% rise in third-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, topping market expectations, but said the positive effect from higher interest rates had come down compared to previous quarters. Sweden's biggest corporate bank said operating profit was 13.0 billion crowns ($1.17 billion) against a year-ago 9.12 billion, beating a mean forecast of 11.0 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts. Banks have seen their income boosted by higher interest rates as central banks scrambled to bring down stubbornly high inflation. The bank, whose main rivals include Handelsbanken, Swedbank and Nordea, said its net interest income rose to 12.3 billion crowns from 7.7 billion crowns, above the 12.0 billion crowns expected by analysts.

Persons: Tom Little, SEBa.ST, Banks, SEB, Johan Ahlander, Anna Ringstrom, Eileen Soreng Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Swedish

Swedbank estimates the current shortfall for Heimstaden Bostad could be roughly 30 billion crowns ($2.7 billion). Sweden's financial regulator launched an inquiry into why and how Alecta had invested $4.5 billion in the property giant, in the first place. "If interest rates continue to rise and it's coupled with unemployment, that's what we are afraid of." With interest rates still climbing, analysts such as Marcus Gustavsson of Danske Bank, believe the worst is not yet over. "With rising interest rates, that funny money has turned into real money and it is painful."

Persons: Heimstaden Bostad, Alecta, Christian Dreyer, Karolina Ekholm, Heimstaden's Dreyer, we're, Dreyer, Niklas Wykman, Heimstaden, David Perez, Marcus Gustavsson, Andreas Cervenka, Sweden, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Greta Rosen Fondahn, Chiara Elisei, John O'Donnell, Hugh Lawson Organizations: International Monetary Fund, GOVT, Sweden's, Financial, Reuters, SBB, Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Nordic, Stockholm, Berlin, Sweden, Heimstaden, Germany, Gdansk, London

Leading the round alongside BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, were Canada Pension Plan, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and, as previously reported, pension investor Investment Management Corporation of Ontario. The fresh funds will help the firm expand its factory footprint, Hartman said. Separately, Northvolt has assembled its first energy storage system products in Poland and expects to start customer deliveries from later this year. "We have a business plan... we always want to make sure we have access to the markets," Hartman said. Reuters has previously reported, citing sources, that Northvolt was preparing for an initial public offering that could value the company at more than $20 billion.

Persons: Helena Soderpalm, IMCO, Northvolt, Alexander Hartman, Goldman Sachs, Baillie Gifford, Swedbank, Singapore's, Chow, Hartman, Supantha Mukherjee, Simon Jessop, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, BlackRock, Reuters, Management Corporation of Ontario, Volkswagen, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, BMW, Volvo, Thomson Locations: Vasteras, Sweden, BlackRock, Canada, STOCKHOLM, LONDON, Swedish, Europe, North America, Ontario, Hong Kong, Germany, United States, Scania, Poland, Stockholm, London

☆ How the ghost of 1990s property crash returned to haunt Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( John O'Donnell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SummaryCompanies Swedish house market tumbles as rates riseSwedes dusting down 1990s blueprint to contain crisisBanks say willing to seize collateralFRANKFURT, July 28 (Reuters) - Long before Europe faced its debt crisis, Sweden struggled through its own 1990s property crash. At the centre of the fallout is a $13 billion property group, SBB, which borrowed to buy public property including social housing, government offices, schools, hospitals and police stations. While property doubled in value in the five years leading up to the 1990s crash, prices have since risen five-fold. Sweden's bruising experience in the 1990s, when banks seized swathes of property underpinning loans, hardened its approach and gave it a blueprint for coping with crises. Swedbank has 1 trillion crowns ($97 billion) in mortgages and loans to tenant owner associations and a further 240 billion crowns in loans to property management companies.

Persons: Jens Henriksson, Price, Karolina Ekholm, Swedbank's, Swedbank, Carl Cederschiold, Masih Yazdi, Bo Lundgren, Lundgren, John O'Donnell, Marie, Alison Williams Organizations: SBB, Sweden's, Marie Mannes, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Europe, Sweden, rocketed, Stockholm, Swedish

☆ Danske Bank hikes guidance, resumes dividends
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Nikolaj Skydsgaard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, July 21 (Reuters) - Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) on Friday raised its full-year profit guidance and said it would resume paying dividends to its shareholders after posting forecast-beating earnings in the second quarter. Denmark's largest lender now expects net profit for 2023 to land in the range of 18.5 billion to 20.5 billion Danish crowns ($2.77 billion-$3.06 billion), up from an earlier estimate of between 16.5 billion and 18.5 billion crowns. Danske's net profit for the April-June quarter rose to 5 billion Danish crowns from 1.7 billion a year earlier, above analysts' expectations in a company-compiled poll of around 4.6 billion crowns. The better-than-expected results mirror those of rival Nordic banks Nordea (NDAFI.HE), SEB, DNB (DNB.OL) and Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), which beat analysts expectations when they published second-quarter results earlier this week. "The losses are lower than expected, and 1.5 billion crowns in loan loss provisions for the whole year acts as a built-in buffer for a further positive guidance change," Nordnet analyst Per Hansen said in a note.

Persons: Carsten Egeriis, Egeriis, SEB, Per Hansen, Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Tom Hogue Organizations: Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, U.S, Denmark

☆ Swedbank to Pay $3.4 Million to Settle U.S. Sanctions Violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

High debts, rising interest rates and a wilting economy has produced a toxic cocktail for Sweden's commercial property companies, with several cut to junk by rating agencies. Sweden and Germany are among the worst affected by a widening property slump on the continent, according to Eurostat. Swedish officials are worried that banks could compound property companies' troubled by cutting credit, triggering firesales that would further drag down the market. Financial markets minister Wykman said he had held discussions with banks, property companies and investors about the entire commercial property market. This week, analysts at JP Morgan said big banks in Sweden, which had 1 trillion Swedish crowns of property exposure, were 'ill-prepared' for losses.

Persons: Niklas Wykman, Wykman, Ilija Batljan, Batljan, JP Morgan, Finland's, SEBa.ST, Chiara Elisei, Sinead Cruise, John O'Donnell, Toby Chopra Organizations: Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, Financial, Reuters, Eurostat, OECD, Reuters Graphics, SBB, JP, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, FRANKFURT, Europe, Sweden, Germany, Stockholm, Swedish, Spain, Ireland, London

☆ Danske Bank raises profit goal, puts Norway retail unit up for sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nikolaj Skydsgaard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Danske Bank has during recent years made fundamental changes to refocus the bank, reduce our risk exposure, develop our organisation and accelerate our commercial momentum," said CEO Carsten Egeriis. Rival Nordic banks Nordea (NDAFI.HE) and DNB (DNB.OL) both have long-term ROE targets of more than 13%, while Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) has a goal of at least 15%. Danske Bank is Norway's third-biggest bank after DNB and Nordea with a market share of close to 5%, regulatory data shows. Danske also said it would double investments into the strategic development of the bank, including digital platforms, expert advisory services and sustainability. It plans to maintain its dividend payout ratio of between 40-60% of net profit.

Persons: Carsten Egeriis, Danske, JP Morgan, Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Terje Solsvik, Jason Neely Organizations: Bank, Danske Bank, Danske, Nordic, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, United States, Denmark

☆ Swedbank Q1 profits beats expectations on better deposit margins
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (Reuters) - Swedish bank Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) reported first-quarter net profit above market expectations on Thursday and said higher deposit margins had boosted results, although credit impairments also rose. "The driving factor was higher net interest income, which strengthened thanks to higher deposit margins," he told a news conference. Higher interest rates have meant that Swedish banks have increased margins on their loan business. Swedbank, Sweden's biggest mortgage bank, said its net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, rose by 77% to 11.94 billion from a year-ago 6.76 billion, above the 11.37 billion expected by analysts. Swedbank said its credit impairments rose to 777 million crowns from 158 million a year ago, above the 386 million seen by analysts.

☆ Handelsbanken scores profit beat as interest income climbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, April 26 (Reuters) - Swedish bank Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST) reported first-quarter net profit above market expectations on Wednesday on the back of climbing interest income and said its credit quality remained good against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty. Soaring inflation over the past year has seen central banks crank up key rates radically, boosting interest income for banks such as Handelsbanken, but also spurring their own costs and ramping up pressure on their customers and on property prices. The rival of Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), SEB (SEBa.ST) and Nordea (NDAFI.HE) said net profit totalled 6.81 billion Swedish crowns ($661.23 million) versus a year-ago 5.69 billion, topping a mean forecast 6.20 billion, according to Refinitiv estimates. The bank, whose main markets are Sweden, Norway and Britain, said its net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, rose to 11.49 billion from a year-ago 8.01 billion, above the 10.89 billion expected by analysts. Handelsbanken said its credit losses edged up to 30 million crowns from only 6 million a year ago, well below the 386 million seen by analysts.

☆ Sweden's economic gloom goes from bad to worse as government predicts steeper GDP contraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Contributor / Getty ImagesThe Swedish government is now predicting a deeper than expected GDP contraction in 2023, according to data released Monday, worsening an already gloomy outlook for the country's economy. Sweden's Ministry of Finance estimated in December that GDP would shrink by 0.7%, but it now predicts a 1% downturn as it reassesses the "challenging economic environment." "We face major challenges, but we will get through them together," Sweden's Minister for Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, said in a press release Monday. The latest CPI data shows inflation is finally starting to slow, but wages are limping behind and house prices are facing a serious downturn. Eroding real wagesMost European countries are experiencing sky-high inflation, leaving real wages lagging behind.

☆ Europe banks can lose 38% of deposits before having to sell assets at a loss-research
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, March 29 (Reuters) - The average European bank could withstand a loss of 38% of its deposits without having to sell at a loss government bond holdings or have a fire sale of illiquid assets, Jefferies analysts said. "Most investor discussions end up at deposit flight risk and the extent to which this can be offset," it added. But investors are worried about the risk that banks may at some point be forced to sell their HTM securities. Jefferies analysed the ability of banks to quickly cover deposit outflows with minimal or no losses, against the level of retail deposits, which comprise 63% of the median bank's deposit base. Following are the results of Jefferies' liquidity analysis:Jefferies liquidity analysis of EMEA banksReporting by Valentina Za and Iain Whithers.

☆ Swedbank books $3.7 mln provision over US investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, March 10 (Reuters) - Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) will book a provision of 40 million Swedish crowns ($3.72 million) related to an investigation by the U.S. Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over the bank's "historical shortcomings", the bank said on Friday. The U.S. Treasury's OFAC is investigating "transactions that the bank has notified the authority about", Swedbank said in a statement. "Swedbank is holding separate discussions with them through our U.S. legal advisors," it added. The investigations are at different stages and the bank cannot at this time determine any financial consequences, nor when the investigations will be completed. ($1 = 10.7476 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Essi LehtoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lithuania aims to raise $539 mln from temporary windfall tax on banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VILNIUS, March 9 (Reuters) - Lithuania's finance minister proposed on Thursday a temporary windfall tax on bank profits, aiming to raise an estimated 510 million euros ($538.7 million) over a two-year period. "In large part, the policy of banks has no influence on the profits, they are due to exceptional circumstances, and are probably surprising to banks themselves," Skaiste said. The government and the central bank had previously said Lithuania was contemplating a windfall tax on the banking industry, but had not said how much this could raise. The government's proposal would impose a two-year tax of 60% on the part of a bank's interest income that is more than 50% higher than a four-year average, Skaiste said. Two Swedish-owned groups hold more than half of Lithuania's banking assets, Swedbank (SWEDa.ST), whose 2022 profits increased by 64% to 148 million euros, and SEB (SEBa.ST), whose profits were up 49% to 172 million euros.

[1/4] A Russian police officer stands in front of a branch of the Raiffeisen Bank in Moscow, Russia, February 27, 2016. It made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business. Of UniCredit's more than 20 billion euro total revenue last year, Russia accounted for more than 1 billion euros. Meanwhile, Russian savers lodged more than 20 billion euros with the bank, which offers a place to deposit funds with fewer sanctions risks. It banned investors from so-called unfriendly countries from selling shares in banks, unless the Russian President grants an exemption.

☆ Lithuania may tax windfall bank profits, boost defence spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura speaks with Lithuania's Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste at the European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2022. "This is a critical situation, we are in an environment of high rates, so unexpected profits are appearing," central bank Governor Gediminas Simkus told a news conference. "The war in Ukraine and countries' reactions to it led to the high liquidity and high rates. The invasion also leads to more defence spending, so if we tax the windfall, the income would be used for defence", Skaiste told reporters. The neighbour of Russia had so far budgeted 2023 defence spending at 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion), or 2.52% of its gross domestic product.

☆ Morning Bid: Mind the gap
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The IMF cited "surprisingly resilient" demand in the United States and Europe, easing of energy costs and the reopening of China's economy. Still, it would be wise for investors to be mindful of a gap between expectations and reality. Flash GDP numbers are due from the euro zone, along with growth data for France and Italy. The Bank of England is set to raise rates by 50 bps to 4.0%, respectively. Money market bets show that the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to raise its policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.50%-4.75% on Wednesday.

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