nordea bank abp on thursday posted a forecastbeating fourthquarter net profit and raised its dividend as higher deposit margins and strong growth in corporate lending drove net interest income higher the helsinkibased bank posted net profit attributable to shareholders of 127 billion euros 140 billion compared with eur102 billion in the same period a year earlier a poll of analysts by factset had forecast net profit of eur11 billion net interest income rose 30 to eur164 billion against eur157 billion forecast by analysts entering 2023 macroeconomic uncertainty remains high we expect the challenging environment to continue during the coming quarters chief executive frank vangjensen said for 2023 our plan is to remain focused on maintaining strict cost control and growing revenues faster than costs while continuing to invest to strengthen the bank the fullyear 2023 return on equity is expected to be above 13 and nordea maintained its fullyear 2025 financial target of return on equity above 13 supported by a costtoincome ratio of 4547 and an annual net loan loss ratio of around 10 basis points nordeas common equity tier 1 ratioa key measure of financial strengthwas 164 from 170 a year earlier the bank raised its dividend to eur088 from eur069