SEB sets total dividend of 11.5 SEKshare vs forecast 9.6 SEK
Payout comprises ordinary and special dividends for 2023
Net profit misses forecast
Interest income also just misses consensus

STOCKHOLM, Jan 25 Reuters SEB on Thursday proposed a biggerthanexpected annual shareholder payout in the form of ordinary and special dividends even as the Swedish bank reported a fourthquarter net profit marginally below market expectations.

SEB, which is more focused on corporate clients than some of its Nordic peers, proposed paying a total dividend of 11.50 crowns per share for 2023, up from 6.75 crowns in the previous year and well above the 9.59 crowns forecast by analysts.

The payout was structured as an ordinary dividend of 8.50 crowns per share with an additional disbursement of 3 crowns. The bank said late on Wednesday that it would utilise an existing mandate to initiate a 1.75billioncrown 167.71 million share buyback.

The bank39;s net profit rose to 8.37 billion crowns from 7.40 billion in the yearago period, lagging the 8.79 billion seen in a poll of estimates collected by LSEG.

SEB and rivals such as Swedbank, Handelsbanken and Nordea have been racking up hefty profits over the past two years as soaring interest rates have driven a spike in interest income.

With central banks now expected to begin cutting rates this year, that tailwind appears set to ease.

The bank reported interest income, which includes revenue from mortgages, of 12.10 billion crowns in the…