Nordea Bank AB(publ) reported second-quarter net profit of €996 million, up from€952 million earned in the year-ago period.

EPS for the quarter stood at 25 cents, compared to 24 cents a yearearlier.

Operating profit dipped year over year to €1.22 billion from €1.24billion and included a €151 million gain relating to the  of the lender's shares inVisa Europe.

The group's net interest income for the quarter fell on a yearly basis to€1.17 billion from €1.27 billion, while net fee and commission income droppedto €804 million from €833 million.

Net loan losses amounted to €127 million, up from €103 million a yearearlier.

ROE stood at 13.4%, compared to 13.1% in the second quarter of 2015.

For the first half, the bank's net profit reached €1.78 billion, downfrom €2.03 billionreported in the same period in 2015.

The group's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio including the Basel Ifloor stood at 11.0% at the end of June, compared to 10.8% a year ago and at2015-end.