Dutch bank ABN Amro has today reported a 3% fall in first-quarter net profit to €595m, as ongoing problems in the oil sector led to impairments on loans to shipping and offshore services clients.
Net profit was higher then expected, as analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted a profit of €574m, after the bank made €615m the same time last year.
"We are on track to achieve our strategic priorities and financial targets by 2020", chief executive Kees van Dijkhuiuzen said in a statement.
Ongoing cost savings reduced the ratio of costs to income to 57.9% in the first quarter, compared to 60.2% a year earlier, putting it in line with the 56-58% target set for 2020.
Van Dijkhuiuzen said "over half" of the €0.9 billion in cost savings set for 2020 have been realised, as ABN continues to modernise its IT systems.
The bank's core capital adequacy ratio fell slightly to 17.5% in the first quarter, putting it at the bottom of the range targeted for this year.
ABN Amro in February said it will maintain relatively high capital buffers, as new banking regulations look likely to ultimately shave 4 to 5 percentage points off its capital requirement ratios in the coming years.
The new regulations, dubbed Basel IV, put a much larger risk weight on mortgage loans.
This specifically hurts ABN and other Dutch banks as they typically have a large mortgage loan book.
