Handelsbanken signals bumper dividend despite profit decline

Svenska Handelsbanken AB on Wednesday reported a fall in second-quarter profit but said it anticipates paying a dividend for the first half of the year that is larger than its earnings for the period.

The Swedish lender's operating profit for the quarter was 7.16 billion Swedish kronor, down from 8.14 billion kronor in the first quarter, the company said.

For the first six months of 2025, operating profit declined to 15.3 billion kronor from 16.78 billion kronor in the same period a year earlier.

Handelsbanken said its anticipated dividend for the first half amounted to 7.15 kronor per share, equivalent to 120% of the profit for the period.

The bank attributed the weaker net interest income to the significant appreciation of the Swedish krona and the non-recurrence of previous positive repricing effects between deposits and lending.

The company noted that underlying expenses decreased, and credit losses consisted of net reversals for a sixth consecutive quarter.

Its common equity tier 1 ratio, a key measure of financial strength, was 18.4%, which the bank said was 3.5 percentage points above the regulatory requirement.