The private banking arm of Dutch lender ABN AMRO has posted an underlying profit of EUR26m for the fourth quarter of 2015, up 73% compared to EUR15m a year ago due to higher operating income.
For the quarter ended 31 December 2015, the unit’s operating profit before tax was EUR33m, while operating income increased to EUR318m compared with EUR301m in the year ago period.
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Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2015 fell 5% to EUR149m from EUR156m compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, while net fee and commission income increased to EUR149m due to higher average client assets.
The division’s operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2015 reached EUR279m, flat compared to the year ago quarter.
Other expenses increased 3% to EUR160m, while personnel expenses decreased 3% to EUR119m in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Operating result for the fourth quarter increased 85% to EUR39m compared with EUR21m a year ago.
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By GlobalDataThe bank said that underlying cost/income ratio for private banking amounted to 87.9% in fourth quarter, a decrease of 5.0 percentage points compared to the year ago quarter.
Client assets for the fourth quarter increased to EUR199.2bn due to improved market performance. Net new assets was EUR0.4bn negative as net outflow was recorded outside the eurozone, which was partly offset by net inflow in the eurozone.
Overall, the group’s underlying profit in the fourth quarter dropped 32% year-on-year to EUR272m.
ABN AMRO Group chairman of the managing board Gerrit Zalm said: "2015 was a good year for the bank. Even though the fourth-quarter underlying net profit declined by 32% to EUR 272 million, the FY 2015 underlying net profit increased to EUR 1,924 million, up 24% compared with FY 2014.
"As previously indicated, Q4 2015 includes regulatory levies of EUR 190 million (net of tax). In addition, Q4 2015 contains provisions for an identified group of SMEs with possible derivative-related issues and legal claims."
