Daily Times

Sweden’s Handelsbanken reported a fall in quarterly net earnings on Wednesday due to restructuring costs, though the bank’s loan portfolio continued to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with ease. Handelsbanken said in its report that results had been impacted by a provision for a restructuring reserve of 1.47 billion crowns referring to the branch closure and IT investment programme the bank unveiled in September. The cost savings plan is part of a major strategy shift for a bank that has long prized its branch network and in 2016 even ousted a previous CEO for entertaining plans to slim down the bank. Third-quarter net profit fell to 3.32 billion Swedish crowns ($380.88 million) from 3.57 billion in the previous year, falling short of the mean forecast of 3.72 billion seen by analysts according to Refinitiv data. Loan losses, a figure closely watched due to a slump in the pandemic-hit wider economy, were 49 million crowns, better than a year-ago 192 million and much lower than the 492 million loss expected by analysts. Throughout 2020, the bank has shown resilience during a pandemic expected to result in a jump in soured debt for banks as the spread of the coronavirus has shut businesses around the world.