Nordea bank logo is seen at the bank's headquarters in Stockholm
The Nordea bank logo is seen at the bank's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, May 7, 2017. Reuters

Finnish banking group Nordea posted third-quarter operating earnings just above market expectations on Thursday on rising interest income, improving slightly its outlook for costs and income for the full year.

The Nordic region's biggest bank reported an operating profit of 1.30 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in the quarter, up from 1.27 billion a year ago, beating the mean forecast of 1.26 billion euros in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

Rampant inflation and rapidly tightening monetary policy is lifting interest income for Nordic banks, while mounting costs for households and businesses and slumping real estate markets have yet to translate into higher loan losses.

Interest income at Nordea, which has sizable operations in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, rose 15% year-on-year to 1.41 billion euros in the July-September quarter to come in above the 1.35 billion seen by analysts.

The Nordic region, however, faced greater macroeconomic uncertainty, rising inflation and weaker growth, it said.

"The visibility is currently low and we expect the challenging environment to continue during the coming quarters," CEO Frank Vang-Jensen said in the company's earnings report.

"However, we are well positioned to weather this environment and have a resilient business model."

Fees and commissions fell 6% from a year ago to 816 million euros, lagging the 822 million expected by analysts. Net loan losses amounted to 58 million euros compared to reversals of 22 million in the year-ago quarter.

"Our credit quality remains strong," Vang-Jensen said.

Earlier this week, Swedish rival Handelsbanken reported record earnings on a surge in interest income while reassuring about credit quality ahead.

The Nordea group, created through the merger of several Nordic banks two decades ago, raised its full-year outlook slightly, forecasting a cost-to-income ratio of 48%-49% versus the previous 49%-50%.

It left unchanged its guidance for a return on 2022 equity of above 11%.

($1 = 1.0238 euros)