AMSTERDAM: Dutch bank ABN Amro on Wednesday beat second-quarter earnings expectations and said it was looking to expand internationally for the first time since the global financial crisis.
Operating profit of 941 million euros was up 7 percent and topped the 879 million expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
Returned to the stock market in November after eight years in government hands, ABN is benefiting from a rebound in the Dutch economy where it does 80 percent of its business.
Chief Executive Gerrit Zalm said the lender plans to elaborate on its strategic plans in 2017, after the amount of capital it must hold to satisfy new Basel IV reserve rules becomes more clear. But he said one near-term goal will be to pursue "selective international growth".
"We aim to diversify our loan portfolio and grow our international business by around 5 percent by the end of 2017.
"As the Dutch economy is closely linked with those of our neighbouring countries we will start servicing corporate clients selectively in Germany, France, Belgium and the UK within our sectors of expertise."
The mention of Britain is mildly surprising as Dutch economists have said the Netherlands stands to suffer more than most from the effects of Britain's decision to exit the European Union. The Dutch economy is strongly export-driven and Britain is the country's second largest trading partner after Germany.
The company's net profit fell 35 percent to 391 million euros due to a one-off charge on interest rate derivatives.
The charge is part of a nation-wide compensation scheme for small and medium-sized businesses who were sold interest rate derivatives as a hedge against rising rates but were found to have been insufficiently informed about the possibility they would lose money when rates dropped to zero or near zero, as they have.
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