Below the line remained a net profit of 523 million euros. This is 77% more than the same period last year. At the time, interest income was still declining due to the very low interest rates of the time.
CEO Robert Swaak points out in an explanation that the Dutch economy again proved “resilient” in the first quarter. This is important for a bank like ABN AMRO, which has a lot to do with the Dutch market. “The recent turbulence in the financial markets has been fueled by problems specific to many banks,” Swaak also points out. According to him, banks in the eurozone have built up substantial reserves, so banks here could take a beating.
Financial markets became quite concerned when some US banks and Credit Suisse ran into problems and had to be bailed out. Banks got into trouble due to a combination of sharply rising interest rates and customers suddenly withdrawing their money en masse. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has therefore been quick to act by pointing out that banks in the Netherlands are resilient and have sufficient cash in reserve.