The retail banking arm of Dutch lender ABN AMRO has posted an underlying profit of €326m for the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 18% compared to €276m in the same period last year.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2017, the unit’s operating profit before tax stood at €436m, a rise of 18% from €369m in the corresponding quarter of 2016.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Operating income in retail banking was up 3% to €976m from €946m a year ago, while net interest income increased 4% to €866m from €830m in the prior year. The unit’s operating expenses dipped 1% year-on-year to €543m.
Overall, the banking group recorded an underlying profit of €615m for the first quarter of 2017, a 30% surge from €475m in the corresponding quarter of 2016.
ABN AMRO Group CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen said: “The 2017 first-quarter results are good, with net profit increasing to EUR 615 million. We have been able to offset the low and negative rate environment and increase net interest income by growing all major loan books (mortgages, SME and corporate loans) and lowering deposit rates.
“Fees were stable and other operating income was higher. We made further progress in achieving our financial targets set for 2020: the cost/income ratio improved from 66.9% in Q1 2016 to 60.2% in Q1 2017, the Return on Equity increased from 11.1% in Q1 2016 to 13.2% in Q1 2017 and our capital position remained strong, with a fully-loaded CET1 ratio of 16.9% at the end of March 2017 (YE 2016: 17.0%).”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
