Western Europe: Sweden - Eastward Expansion - Nigel Dudley Reports On The Favourable Fortunes Of Those Swedish Banks That Have Set Up Shop Beyond Their Borders, Venturing Into Russia And Even China.

In the middle of May, it is customary for Swedish students to celebrate the end of their exams by packing themselves into open lorries and driving around the centre of Stockholm, dressed rather eccentrically and making a lot of noise.

Had they been a less soberly minded bunch, the country's bankers may have been tempted to join them, following yet another series of record results. Nordea's net profits for the first quarter were up 34% on the previous year at E665m, while those at SEB climbed by 41% to SKr2.8bn (e305m) and at Svenska Handelsbanken they were SKr4.1bn.

These results were achieved despite intensive competition in the domestic market, which - as it has in the rest of Scandinavia - squeezed margins, and a...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.