Swedish Manufacturing PMI Surges to 55.3 in August, Swedbank's Net Interest Income Distribution by Geography Revealed

Swedish manufacturing PMI rose to 55.3 points in August. Swedbank AB is a banking group with 3 business areas: retail banking, investment and market banking, and private banking. The group has 214 branches in Sweden and the Baltic States, with a net interest income distribution of 63.4% in Sweden, 14.2% in Lithuania, and 11.7% in Estonia.

Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Barclays Principal Investments Limited (BPIL), has entered into an agreement to sell its entire shareholding in the joint venture Entercard Group AB to its joint venture partner, Swedbank AB (publ). The sale is expected to complete by year-end 2025, following the receipt of relevant regulatory and competition approvals.

Entercard, established in 2005, provides consumer credit to customers across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. As of 31 March 2025, Entercard had total assets of SEK36 billion, primarily comprising card and loan receivables. Swedbank will acquire BPIL’s shareholding in Entercard at book value, estimated to be SEK2.6 billion as of 31 March 2025, payable in cash upon completion. On completion, Entercard will repay the funding, in an amount equivalent to c.£1.2 billion, currently provided by Barclays Bank PLC to Entercard [1].

The sale is expected to release c.£0.9 billion of Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs), increasing Barclays’ Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio by c.4bps on completion. This is based on Barclays’ CET1 ratio as at 30 June 2025 [1].

Swedbank AB is a banking group organized around three business areas: retail banking, investment, financial, and market banking, and private banking. At the end of 2024, the group managed SEK 1,288.6 billion in current deposits and SEK 1,882.2 billion in current loans. Net interest income is distributed geographically as follows: Sweden (63.4%), Lithuania (14.2%), Estonia (11.7%), Latvia (7.3%), Norway (2.1%), the United States (0.3%), and other (1%) [2].

The sale of Entercard’s stake by Barclays to Swedbank marks a strategic move aimed at enhancing financial stability and improving CET1 ratios. This transaction will allow Barclays to focus on its core banking activities, while Swedbank will expand its consumer credit operations in the Nordic region.

References:
[1] https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/barclays-to-sell-entercard-stake-to-swedbank/4121213826
[2] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/swedbank-sparebank-1-s-new-investment-bank-sb1-markets-commences-operations-ce7c50d2dd8df024