Danske raises forecast, Sydbank, Jyske report

Danske Bank made pre-tax profits of Dkr4.5bn (Eu605m) in the third quarter, 6% ahead of consensus expectations, and raised its outlook for the full year from Dkr10bn-Dkr13bn to Dkr11.5bn-Dkr13.5bn.

Net profit for the first nine months was Dkr10.1bn, a 95% increase from 2013. Danske said the increase was driven by growth in most income lines, lower expenses and lower impairments.

“In the third quarter, we continued to make progress in strengthening our position as a Nordic universal bank by focusing on relations with our customers and improving financial performance,” said Danske CFO Thomas Borgen.

“The results are encouraging, but we still have some way to go before reaching our long term targets.”

Mats Anderson, equity research analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, highlighted commission revenue generation of Dkr2.6bn as a positive surprise, 8% ahead of consensus and up 16% year-on-year. He added that net interest income was in line with expectations, while net items (trading gains) had been a cause for concern but came in marginally ahead of expectations at Dkr1.5bn.

Sydbank on Tuesday reported a third quarter net profit of Dkr314m, ahead of expectations of Dkr266m according to a Reuters poll and its best quarterly result in more than six years.

“Q3 performance shows that Sydbank’s plan to increase profitability is working,” said the bank’s CEO, Karen Frøsig.

“Costs are falling, income is growing and at the same time credit quality is improving.”

Jyske Bank on Wednesday released its results for the first nine months of the year, the first quarterly results to fully incorporate BRFkredit results, complicating comparisons. Pre-tax profits were, however, double the first nine months of 2013, up from Dkr1.710bn to Dkr3.404bn.

“The third quarter of 2014 was also affected by the merger with BRFkredit, and over the past five months it has been confirmed to us that the merger has a great growth potential,” said Jyske management in the Q3 report.