The private banking unit of Dutch lender ABN AMRO has reported an underlying profit of €68m for the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 26% compared to €54m a year earlier.

The bank said that the rise in profit was driven by a small increase in operating income, lower expense levels and loan impairment releases.

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The unit’s quarterly operating profit before tax was €93m, a surge of 23% compared with €75m in the year ago third quarter.

Compared to last year, the unit’s operating income rose 1% to €319m and net interest income increased 6% to €167m. The division’s operating expenses dropped 3% year-on-year to €233m.

The cost/income ratio of the private banking arm was 73% verus 75.9% in the previous year.

Client assets at the end of September 2017 totalled €197.1bn. Net new assets were €1.3bn.

Overall, the banking group posted underlying profit of €673m for the third quarter of 2017, up 11% compared to €607m in the third quarter of 2016.

ABN AMRO CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen said: “ABN AMRO had a good third quarter. The Q3 2017 net profit came to EUR 673 million, up 11% year-on-year. All major loan books (the mortgage, commercial and corporate loan books) showed continued growth in constant currencies.

“Operating income showed a small decline year-on-year, due mainly to divested activities, lower Markets and Clearing fees, Private Equity results and accounting effects. Costs are trending down as the benefits from the IT transformation programme and cost-saving programmes are coming through.”