STOCKHOLM -Swedish bank SEB said on Thursday its second-quarter net profit beat analyst expectations, as higher interest rates and increased demand from corporate customers offset negative impact from lacklustre stock markets.
Net profit fell to 5.84 billion Swedish crowns ($551 million) from a year-ago period of 6.57 billion, but beat mean forecast of 5.51 billion crowns in a poll of analysts on SEB’s website.
Sweden’s central bank hiked interest rates by 0.5 percentage point in June to stave off rampant inflation.
“We saw a positive contribution from higher interest rates and currency effects, increased demand from corporate customers for credit and risk management, and resumed travelling and consumption,” Chief Executive Officer Johan Torgeby said in the report.
Net interest income, which includes income from mortgages, rose to 7.74 billion crowns, up from 6.47 billion crowns a year ago and 7.18 billion crowns in the consensus estimates.
($1 = 10.5908 Swedish crowns)
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(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)