While the bottom line figure showed a slight fall in profits, the direction of travel for ABN AMRO remains broadly positive, it said yesterday.

This week, ABN AMRO, the Netherlands-headquartered bank, reported a 6 per cent year-on-year fall in pre-tax profit for the second quarter of 2025, standing at €606 million (about $706 million).

Net fee and commission income rose 6 per cent; other operating income surged 19 per cent in Q2 2025 from a year before. Operating income in total was down a touch, -1 per cent. 

Personnel costs rose 12 per cent, to €735 million; other expenses fell by 4 per cent, to €582 million, the bank said in a statement. 

The lender’s cost/income ratio was 61.5 per cent at the end of the quarter, up from 58.2 per cent a year earlier. 

Along with a number of other major European lenders, ABN AMRO has benefited from an improved sentiment towards the continent's financials. Shares in the lender are up more than 65 per cent since the start of the year. Yesterday afternoon, they fetched €24.83 per share.

ABN AMRO said it logged €6 million of net impairment releases, showing that credit quality is strong. At the end of June, it had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 14.8 per cent, adjusted for the new €250 million share buyback; it has set an interim dividend at €0.54 per share. In the fourth quarter, the bank said it would review its capital position to check potential for more share buybacks.

Marguerite Bérard (main picture), CEO, said the bank’s capital assessment includes the remaining effect of ABN AMRO’s purchase of Germany-based Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe in 2024. AMRO bought the business from China-based Fosun for €672 million. It already operates a German private banking business, Bethmann. The Frankfurt-based bank, which has branches across Germany, has been building a presence in Germany for some time.

The capital assessment also included the expected increase of the Pillar 2 requirement of around 35 basis points as of 1 January 2026 – this is the preliminary outcome of the 2025 Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process which mainly covers ABN AMRO’s exposure to interest-only mortgages, Bérard said.