STOCKHOLM, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Swedish bank Handelsbanken reported on Wednesday a rise in fourth-quarter operating profit and proposed to raise its dividend.

Operating profit was 9.06 billion crowns ($863.6 million) against a year-earlier 7.58 billion. Four analysts polled by LSEG had on average forecast an operating profit of 9.33 billion crowns.

Handelsbanken proposed a total dividend of 13.00 crowns per share for 2023 against 8.00 crowns for the previous year. ($1 = 10.4908 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Johan Ahlander, editing by Stine Jacobsen)