STOCKHOLM, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Swedish banking group SEB posted a better-than-expected third-quarter operating profit on Thursday as the bank clawed back some money it had set aside to cover loan losses in the crisis-hit Baltic region.
Operating earnings in July through September were 2.8 billion Swedish crowns ($414 million), well above the 2.1 billion seen in a Reuters poll and compared with the 702 million crowns reported in the same period a year ago.
Recoveries of credit provisions in the period amounted to 196 million crowns compared with a mean forecast of loan losses of 580 million and a sharp turnaround from the 639 million loss in the previous quarter.