Nordea Bank is scaling up its capital returns. The Finnish lender today announced a new share buy-back program of up to EUR 500 million, twice the size of the EUR 250 million program it completed only days ago. The new program, approved by the European Central Bank, is set to start on 18 December or shortly thereafter and run until no later than 8 May 2026.

The increase in scale reflects confidence in the Helsinki-based bank’s earnings and capital generation. In the third quarter, Nordea delivered a return on equity of 15.8 percent and earnings per share of EUR 0.36, despite lower interest rates. Operating profit reached EUR 1.6 billion, while credit losses remained well below long-term expectations.

Capital buffers remain comfortable. At the end of September, the CET1 ratio stood at 15.9 percent, around 2.3 percentage points above regulatory requirements. The market has taken note. Nordea’s share price has risen close to 50 percent over the past year to EUR 15.51 by midday. With a P/E ratio of 11x, Nordea trades slightly below peers such as Danske Bank and smaller Nordic banks like Ålandsbanken, according to Simply Wall St.