Nordea chief executive Christian Clausen

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The top Nordic bank Nordea reported a 14-percent jump in quarterly net profits on Wednesday, far better than analysts had expected.

Nordea reported a net figure of 709 million euros (978 million dollars), from 624 million euros at the same time last year, attributing the rise to an increase the number of wealthy clients and to a relatively stable economic climate.

Net banking income, the profit from the cost of attracting deposits and the price of lending it out, a key measure for retail banks, was almost steady, slipping 1.0 percent to 1.31 billion euros.

The outcome exceeded the figure expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires who had expected the net profit to fall by about 9.0 percent to 571 million euros and net banking income to fall by 2.0 percent.

Chief executive Christian Clausen said: "Nordea had a strong quarter, with record level income and one of our highest operating profits ever."