ABN Remains Downbeat

Wholesale banking continued to suffer in difficult market conditions. The bank took a hit of £116.2m as its US wholesale businesses fell into the red and set aside £157.6m for the recent closure of the US M & A and equities units.

As a result, net profit for the first quarter fell 42% on the same period last year to £245.3m. Striping out the charge, however, net profit actually rose 12.9 % to £372m over the previous 3 months.

The group has also shed 6,673 staff since the beginning of the year and the headcount savings have yet to show in the figures.

Despite the generally positive figures, however, Rijkman Groenink, the group chairman, said that 'given uncertain market conditions we remain cautious about the remainder of the year.'