FINANCIALS: SEB Group (SEB Aa3/A+/AA) - Q4 Results
SEB Group (SEB Aa3/A+/AA) - Q4 Results
Overall marginally positive. Watch stage 3 loans and expenses growth going forward, but given the net income performance an upgrade from S&P may be on the cards. And upgrade from Moody's to Snr bonds could also follow tier 2 issuance.
• NII falls -2.1% QoQ and is -10.6% lower than Q4 23 at SEK 10,820mn. This is however around expectations and the group S&P's net income forecast of €34bn for 2024 which was a key point of their positive outlook.
• Fee & commission grew income by 18.1% vs Q4 2023, a good result even excluding the impact from AirPlus integration - a corporate payments provider.
• Expenses were SEK 2,409mn or 33.8% higher than Q4 23. Staff cost increases represented 40% of this and IT spending much of the rest. Expected, but investors would like to see this growth slow.
• Provisions were stable, but stage 3 loans jumped sharply. This was offset by a similar fall in stage 2 provisions, indicating that this was likely a one off, but we will watch this closely. - some of ...