Swedbank's quarterly profit tops forecast as interest income gives boost

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The Swedish bank said in a statement its quarterly operating profit rose 24% to 8.70 billion crowns ($801 million) from 7.03 billion crowns posted last year, beating the 7.19 billion crowns seen by analysts in a Refinitiv poll.

Soaring inflation, fuelled in part by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, has seen central banks rapidly hiking rates, lifting interest income at Swedish banks but also squeezing households and businesses and depressing stock markets, potentially driving a rise in loan losses in the coming quarters.

Swedbank, a rival of banks such as Handelsbanken, SEB and Nordea, said its interest income, which includes revenue from mortgages, rose to 8.36 billion crowns from 6.79 billion crowns a year ago and above the 7.56 billion analysts had forecast.

Commission income fell to 3.63 billion crowns from 3.80 billion crowns last year, beating the 3.53 billion seen by analysts.

($1 = 10.8585 Swedish crowns)