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Investing.com -- ABN AMRO (AS:ABNd) reported a second-quarter net profit of €606 million, down 6% from €642 million a year earlier, citing lower deposit margins.
The bank also announced a €250 million share buyback programme starting Aug. 7 and expected to conclude by December 2025.
Earnings per share dropped to €0.67 from €0.73 in the second quarter of 2024 and from €0.69 in the previous quarter. Return on equity was 9.4%, down from 10.8% a year earlier.
The cost/income ratio rose to 61.5% from 58.2% in the same quarter last year and was broadly flat compared to 61.0% in the first quarter.
Net interest income fell 5% to €1.53 billion from €1.61 billion in the second quarter of 2024. Net interest margin narrowed to 149 basis points from 162 basis points, with the bank attributing the decline to pressure on deposit margins following rate cuts.
Fee and commission income rose 6% year over year to €492 million, driven by payment package repricing and higher transaction volumes in Clearing within Corporate Banking.
Other operating income increased 19% to €119 million, primarily due to improved equity participations. Adjusted for large items, other income was slightly below last year’s level.
Total (EPA:TTEF) operating income came in at €2.14 billion, down from €2.17 billion. Operating expenses rose to €1.32 billion from €1.26 billion, due to higher personnel costs related to internal staff growth and restructuring provisions. External staffing costs were lower year over year.
The bank reported a net release of €6 million in impairments on financial instruments, up slightly from a €4 million release in the same period last year.
ABN AMRO’s cost of risk was -1 basis point, indicating no material deterioration in credit quality.
The fully loaded CET1 ratio stood at 14.8%, up from 13.8% a year ago. The capital earmarked for the share buyback has already been excluded from this ratio.
The programme has been approved by the European Central Bank and will be executed within the 10% share repurchase limit authorized by shareholders in April.
NLFI, which holds a 30.5% stake in ABN AMRO, will participate in the buyback on a pro rata basis via off-market transactions. Repurchased shares will be cancelled.
Client assets rose to €355.5 billion, a €8.6 billion increase from the previous quarter. The mortgage portfolio expanded by €1.8 billion to €160 billion.
Total loans and advances to customers grew to €258.5 billion, mainly due to mortgage and professional lending growth. The bank maintained its full-year cost guidance of €5.3 billion to €5.4 billion.
During the quarter, ABN AMRO completed its acquisition of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe and will combine it with Bethmann Bank under a dual-brand strategy in Germany.
The combined business manages over €70 billion in assets. ABN AMRO also invested €10 million in a European defence and security tech fund managed by Keen Venture Partners.