Danske Net Interest Income Tops Estimates on Lending Activity | Company Business News

(Bloomberg) — Danske Bank A/S, the largest lender in Denmark, reported better-than-expected lending income in the second quarter as brisker demand for loans offset the impact of lower deposit margins.

Despite market and geopolitical volatility, net interest income held steady from the prior quarter at 9.06 billion kroner ($1.4 billion), the lender said in a statement Friday. Analysts had estimated 8.93 billion kroner. Weighing on the metric was also the sale of the personal customer business in Norway.

Net income came in at 5.45 billion kroner, in line with the 5.44 billion-krone average estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The bank held onto its guidance of net income in the range of 21 billion kroner to 23 billion kroner in the full year.

Danske Bank and its Nordic peers have in recent years benefited from higher interest rates across the region. But with the European Central Bank cutting borrowing costs eight times in the past year, and Denmark’s central bank mirroring its moves, that tailwind has mostly faded. The Danish key rate is a touch lower, at 1.6%, than the ECB’s 2% to protect the country’s currency peg to the euro.

As the euro area suffers from uncertainty created by conflicting news on US tariffs, market turmoil and trade-weary investors are putting pressure on fees and commissions, which came in at 3.41 billion kroner for Danske Bank during the second quarter.

In an effort to help grow its investment banking franchise, the Danish lender recently poached three senior managers from rival Nordea Bank Abp to help run its equity capital markets business out of Stockholm.

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