Reports

Fortis-Owned ABN Amro Activities Strong in 2007

Nick Parmee 28 February 2008

Fortis-Owned ABN Amro Activities Strong in 2007

Following the reporting by ABN Amro of its results for full-year 2007, Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis has decided to inform the market of the pro forma non-consolidated financial results of the ABN Amro activities it has acquired. On 7 March 2008, when Fortis discloses its full-year 2007 results, it will publish the net contribution of the acquired ABN Amro activities after the impact of purchase accounting. It will also publish the total impact of the acquisition on its results, including financing costs and integration costs. The 2007 net profit of the acquired ABN Amro activities amounted to €1,400 million ($2,113 million). Although this is 29 per cent lower than the comparable figure for 2006, which included the results from and the realised gains on the sale of Bouwfonds and the realised gains on the sale of asset management activities, Jean-Paul Votron, chief executive of Fortis, hailed a strong performance. "Despite the volatile market conditions at the end of 2007 and uncertainty during the period of the bidding process itself, our ABN Amro colleagues delivered an extremely robust financial performance in 2007. We are fully on track with the integration of ABN Amro's activities and expect the asset management integration process to be completed over the coming weeks, followed by private banking by the end of the year and retail banking and commercial/corporate activities by the end of 2009." Net interest income was flat year-on-year at €3,328 million, but showed robust growth in the fourth quarter. Net commissions and fees advanced 9 per cent to €2,339 million in 2007. All acquired businesses contributed to this growth.

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