Handelsbanken second quarter net profit just misses forecast as costs rise

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Handelsbanken <SHBa.ST> reported a marginally bigger than expected fall in quarterly net earnings on Wednesday as rising spending overshadowed stronger income from commissions.

Second-quarter net profit fell to 4.22 billion Swedish crowns (361.95 million pounds) from 5.23 billion in the previous year, narrowly missing the 4.25 billion mean forecast by analysts according to Refinitiv data.

Total costs, closely watched in the wake of rising spending in recent years, rose to 5.50 billion crowns from a year-ago 5.20 billion, above the 5.36 billion forecast by analysts.

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Esha Vaish; additional reporting by Gdynia newsroom)