Danske Bank raises profit outlook

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender, on Thursday raised its full-year profit outlook as a result of rising interest rates and high trading income.

The bank now expects a net profit of between 16.5 billion and 18.5 billion Danish crowns ($2.45 billion to $2.74 billion) for the full year, up from an earlier estimate of between 15 billion and 17 billion crowns.

"The strong financial result benefited from the improved interest rate environment and high trading income driven by good customer activity at Large Corporates & Institutions," Chief Executive Carsten Egeriis said in a statement.

"Benign financial market conditions further supported income from insurance activities, and impairment charges remained at a very low level in the first quarter," he added.

Danske said its preliminary net profit for the January-March quarter rose to 5.1 billion crowns from 2.8 billion a year ago, beating an average expectation of 4.1 billion crowns in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

Net interest income for the period was around 8 billion crowns, while expenses stood at around 6.3 billion.

The bank has faced significantly higher compliance costs in relation to its involvement in one of the world's largest money laundering scandals.

In December, Danske pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy, forfeiting $2 billion as part of an agreement with the United States to settle the investigation involving billions of dollars in illicit payments through its now-shuttered Estonia branch.

($1 = 6.7435 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Terje Solsvik; editing by Jonathan Oatis)