Nordea returned strong earnings for 2009 at DKK 22 billion before tax compared with just over DKK 25 billion in 2008, according to annual accounts.

The announcement of Nordea’s result comes in the wake of results from Danske Bank, which showed a 2009 result of just under DKK 5 billion before tax.

Unlike several other banks, Nordea has not lost as much in connection with the failed housing market.

Prior to the publication of Nordea’s accounts, analysts had foreseen writedowns of EUR 1.57 billion or DKK 12 billion in 2009 – in effect accounts showed slightly lower writedowns of EUR 1.49 billion.

Nordea CEO Christian Clausen says he is happy that the bank has been able to present good returns despite the difficulties faced in 2009.

“We have returned a strong basis to continue our well-balanced growth strategy,” Clausen says.