COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Danske Bank (DB) said Thursday its net profit for 2009 sank in the face of bad debt charges stemming from the global economic crisis and predicted another difficult year ahead.

"The year 2010 is expected to be another challenging year for the banking sector," Denmark's largest bank said.

It reported net profits of 1.7 billion Danish kroner (228 million euros, 315 million dollars) for 2009, up 68 percent from the 1.01 billion it made in 2008 but significantly lower that its net profit of 14.87 billion in 2007, before the global crisis that shook up the banking sector.

Danske Bank said said loan impairment charges reached 25.7 billion kroner, a record and more than twice the amount in 2008, largely due to loans to small and medium businesses.

The bank added that "the group's markets suffered worse macroeconomic developments than ever before, including sharply declining industrial output, lower asset values and rising unemployment."

The Nordic countries' second largest bank said "economic indicators now point to beginning stabilisation, and 2010 is likely to see modest economic growth. Unemployment will continue to rise, however."

Danske Bank is present in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Northern Ireland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Germany, Britain, Poland and Luxembourg.

Its shares were up 5.0 percent to 135.4 kronor in early trading on the Copenhagen stock exchange up 0.48 percent.