STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish bank Handelsbanken reported a net profit for the fourth quarter that topped market expectations on the back of strong interest and financial income and said its costs rose 5% compared to the preceding quarter.
Net profit at the more than 150-year-old bank dipped to 6.85 billion crowns ($624 million) from 7.24 billion a year ago, topping a mean forecast 6.17 billion, according to a mean forecast based on a LSEG compilation of analyst estimates.
The bank said its costs, which have been under investor scrutiny after unexpectedly heavy spending early last year, rose to 6.36 billion crowns, marginally below the 6.39 billion in spending seen by analysts.
Spending at the bank has been running high over the past year due to elevated costs in areas such as IT and staff, but Handelsbanken delivered sequential cost declines in both the second and third quarters of last year.
The oldest company on the Swedish stock exchange proposed a total dividend of 15.0 crowns per share compared to 13.0 crowns a year earlier, above the 13.5 crowns per share seen by analysts.
Handelsbanken, like rivals such as Swedbank, SEB and Nordea, have seen central bank rate cuts put pressure on interest income in recent quarters though the impact has so far been moderate.
Handelsbanken, the last of the four banks to unveil quarterly results, said net interest income, which includes revenues from mortgages, fell to 11.75 billion from a year-ago 12.22 billion, topping the 11.24 billion seen by analysts.
($1 = 10.9741 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Niklas Pollard, editing by Anna Ringstrom)
