It said it now expects a net profit of around 15 billion Danish crowns (1.7 billion pounds), up from a previous forecast of a result in "the middle" of a 13 billion-15 billion crowns range.

"As a result of a number of extraordinary items concerning tax, the annual goodwill impairment testing and other elements affecting net profit in the fourth quarter of 2019, the outlook for 2019 is revised upwards," the bank said in a statement.

The bank has lost customers since reports emerged in 2017 of its involvement in one of the world's biggest money-laundering scandals via its Estonia branch.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Susan Fenton)