The bank’s operating income rose 13 percent to 38.7 billion kronor. Costs rose 2 percent to 22.5 billion. Announcing the results, the board proposed a dividend of 6 kronor per share, up from 4.75 kronor last year.
The result is the best ever achieved by the bank, and beat analysts’ expectations.
“The efforts to improve productivity and establish a more competitive long-term cost-base are gradually yielding result,” said the bank’s president, Annika Falkenberg.
The Wallenberg family’s holding company Investor is a major shareholder in SEB, one of the largest banks in the Nordic region.