HELSINKI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Nordic region's biggest bank Nordea reported fourth-quarter profits below expectations on Monday and said it expects a return on equity above 15% in 2024 and 2025.

Fourth quarter operating profit at the Finnish lender fell to 1.42 billion euros ($1.53 billion) against a year-earlier 1.61 billion and a mean forecast in an LSEG poll of analysts of 1.64 billion euros.

Nordea and its Nordic peers such as SEB, Swedbank and Danske Bank have been racking up hefty profits over the past two years on the back of soaring interest rates, which are expected to begin falling this year.

"In the fourth quarter we continued our proactive approach to supporting our customers and maintained solid underlying profitability despite the very low net fair value result," Chief Executive Frank Vang-Jensen said in a statement.

($1 = 0.9279 euros) (Reporting by Anne Kauranen, editing by Terje Solsvik)