Amsterdam, Feb 05: Dutch bank ABN Amro beat its own guidance with a 31% growth in ’03 net profit even as its chief raised the possibility of a merger after announcing the group had scrapped a takeover defence. CEO Rijkman Groenink, who has overseen a E 1bn recast plan that included closing non-core units and slashing 10,000 jobs world-wide to cope with hard times, said earnings will grow in ‘04 but at a slower pace.
Cost-control, healthier stock markets and lower bad-debt provisions for the year helped the bank's bottomline and its investment banking and brokerage unit to return to profit.
The Netherlands' biggest bank posted a record ’03 net profit of E 3.2bn ($3.9bn) from E 2.2bn previously. ABN Amro had forecast net profit growth of 25% against market expectations. of 28%. Bureau Report