Nordea is the first of the four major banks to report results for the third quarter. In connection with the quarterly report, the Dane Vang-Jensen is now responding to Svantesson's move about the banks and how they act in connection with the Swedish Central Bank's interest rate cuts.
It's not the case that there is a 100 percent correlation between the Swedish Central Bank's key interest rate and the borrowing costs for the banks, which to a large extent come from the capital market, he says to TT.
Criticism has been raised
The criticism that has been raised has been that the banks have not lowered the mortgage rates in line with the Swedish Central Bank's latest cut of 0.25 percentage points. Svantesson has said in an interview with TT that she "has her eyes on the banks" and that "it has stuck out that the banks have had very high profits, at the same time as mortgage customers have had it very tough".
Frank Vang-Jensen again:
We are entering an election period, so maybe it's something you can expect, he says about Svantesson's move.
One should discuss facts. Much of what has been written (in newspapers) is not correct. The competition is tougher than ever and there are more players than before.
You are operating in several markets, is the debate specific to the Swedish part?
I don't know, but I think there is a pattern: when you approach an election period, there are different statements and for some strange reason, the banks are part of that equation. It also happens in other countries.
At the same time, Nordea is making another strong quarter and Vang-Jensen assesses it as "stable".
The operating profit was written to 1.6 billion euros, in line with last year but above market expectations. This while the net interest income, what the bank earns on the difference between deposit and lending rates, fell by 6 percent to 1.8 billion euros.
The first half of the year has been volatile with high uncertainty and companies have been very cautious. Now we see higher activity from companies and it is visible in lending to companies. It's positive, but it's going slower on the mortgage market.
An economic turnaround
The economic turnaround for households has already occurred, according to Nordea's CEO.
However, it's going slowly. Customers have money to pay bills. Interest rates and inflation have come down. What's missing is confidence in the future and it's slowly coming back, but it doesn't go from 0 to 100.
