Dutch banking group ABN Amro posted net profits of 671m euros for the second quarter of the year, a 21-percent drop from the equivalent figure one year ago.
The net profit figure did not include the sale for 962m euro of European American Bank in July. Revenues for the group stood at 4.9bn euros, up 8.1% over the previous year.
The rise in profits came in above analysts' expectations, and sent company stock up on the Amsterdam stock exchange.
Bank chairman Rijkman Groenink said: 'We were able to compensate for the weakness of the market with the composition of our clients, our product range and geographic coverage.'
Earnings per share fell 22% to 0.57 euro and operating profit dipped 4.8% to 1.286bn euro. In the first six months of the year net profit stood at 1.354bn euros, falling 16% from the same period in 2000.
