Fears that the major banks would see their shares tumble following Q1 reports, mirroring the 2 percent average decline seen during the full-year results, proved unfounded. Instead, earnings generally beat expectations, resulting in measured market reactions.
Looking ahead, cost-cutting measures and AI integration are expected to provide tailwinds, even as rising valuations increase the performance pressure on the sector, according to an analysis by the newspaper.
Forecasts suggest that all major banks except Swedbank will see modest profit growth in 2025, while the outlook for 2026 appears stronger with projected earnings growth between 4 and 11 percent. Following this year's rally, bank stocks are trading at an average of 11.4 times this year's earnings forecasts, up from 9.8 times a year ago.
At the same time, the market has become increasingly alert to political risk following the opposition's proposal for an additional Swedish bank tax.
The publication maintains Nordea as its preferred pick within the sector.
Nordea Bank Abp is a banking services group organized around 4 business areas:
- personal banking (39.6% of income);
- business banking (287.4%);
- institutional and large corporate banking (19.9%);
- assets and wealth management (11.6%);
- other (1.5%).
Income (including intragroup) is distributed geographically as follows: Finland (21.5%), Sweden (29.2%), Denmark (26.4%), Norway (19.5%) and other (3.4%).
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Investor
Investor
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Global
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ESG MSCI
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