Sweden's fourth largest bank made a bigger-than-expected loss but said it will swing back into profit this year.

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Swedbank -- heavily exposed to the troubled Baltics and Ukraine -- posted a fourth-quarter operating loss of 1.67 billion kronor ($224.3 million) compared with a 2.4 billion kronor profit a year ago. The loss was larger than expected.

Loan losses, including provisions for the possible future non-payment of loans, were smaller than forecast and amounted to 5 billion kronor.

"Compared to a year ago, the risk level in the bank is lower. 2010 will be a challenging year and the work to bring down the risk level will continue. Given that the global macro economy continues to develop positively without substantial divergence, particularly in Latvia and Ukraine, a profit for the full-year 2010 is feasible", said Swedbank's chief executive officer Michael Wolf. 

SEB and Nordea will post earnings Wednesday.