Nordea aims for 4% growth in lending volume by end of 2025

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Nordea is aiming for 4% growth in lending volume and 4-6% growth in savings assets by the end of 2025 by improving its digital services, the bank said on Thursday ahead of its capital markets day.

“Now we will invest further in digital leadership. Our 2025 target is to have at least 25% more digitally active customers,” CEO Frank Vang-Jensen said in a statement.

Nordea two weeks ago raised its profitability target thanks to increased demand for mortgages and asset management, but warned costs would be higher this year.

The biggest Nordic lender now aims for a return on equity (RoE) above 11% in 2022 and above 13% in 2025. It was 11.3% in 2021.

Nordea added investments and cost inflation would mean an increase to the cost-to-income ratio, which it now expects to rise to 49-50% from 47% last year.

Nordea also said it plans to ensure that 80% of the top 200 emitters in Nordea’s asset management portfolios are at least aiming to conform to the Paris agreement, which means limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

(The story corrects statement to 25% from 20% in CEO quote, paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Essi Lehto; editing by Jason Neely and Kim Coghill)