HELSINKI (Reuters) – Helsinki-based Nordea Bank has set a new target of a return on equity (RoE) above 13% for 2025, it said on Thursday, while keeping its existing 2022 target of RoE above 10% intact.
The Nordic region’s biggest lender reported better-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter, as it saw both a boom in the mortgage market and growth of assets under management to continue.
“Our mortgage lending grew by 6%, SME (small and medium enterprise) lending by 6% and assets under management… by 17%, reaching all-time-high levels,” Chief Executive Frank Vang-Jensen said in a statement.
Fourth-quarter net profit rose to 1.02 billion euros ($1.15 billion) from 725 million a year ago, beating the mean forecast of 949.1 million seen by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Nordea’s board proposed a dividend of about 0.69 euros per share for 2021, up 77% from 0.39 euros per share for 2020, the company said.
($1=0.8851 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Shailesh Kuber)
