Dutch bank ABN Amro (ABNd.AS) tops analyst expectations on Wednesday with a jump of 21 percentage points in second-quarter net profit to 475 million euros ($485 million), as the release of previous impairments outweigh rising costs.
Analysts in a company-collated poll had forecast a net profit of 312 million euros for April-June, compared with 393 million euros a year earlier. ABN’s earnings were boosted by an economic recovery in the Netherlands, which triggered demand for mortgage and corporate loans and elevated the credit quality of existing clients.
This mitigated an 8% rise in operating expenses, sparked by investments relating to regulatory changes and rising costs of anti-money laundering efforts. Costs turned up higher than analysts’ estimates, while net interest income slightly fell short of deviated from expectations as it fell 3% to 1.27 billion euros.
Still, the lender said it anticipates net interest income to decline in the second half of 2022 as interest rates rise, leading to a total interest income of about 5.2 billion euros for the entire year. ABN, one of three top banks in the Netherlands, had earlier guided for a net interest income of about 5.1 billion euros.
ABN said the European Central Bank had authorized a potential share buyback worth 250 million euros, dependent on the potential sale of shares by the Dutch state, which still owns a 56% stake.
($1=0.9793 euros)
