ABN Amro beats quarterly profit expectations on lower costs (updated)

ABN Amro Bank NV

13/05/2026 06:50

Beat across the board

Cost-cutting plan in full swing

Shares rise 7.5%

Rewrites throughout, adds analyst comment, shares, chart on stock performance, peers

By Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster

May 13 (Reuters) - ABN Amro ABNd.AS beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday, helped by lower expenses and higher fee income, putting the Dutch lender's shares on track for their best day since February last year in early trading.

Net profit rose 12% year-over-year to 693 million euros ($813 million) in the first quarter, above average expectations of 569 million euros from analysts polled by the bank.

Shares gained around 7.5%, pushing the stock back into positive territory year-to-date, with RBC analysts saying in a note that the results were helped by faster execution of the cost-reduction plan.

ABN Amro's quarterly expenses were roughly 150 million euros below forecasts, prompting the lender to cut its annual cost guidance to around 5.5 billion euros from 5.6 billion euros earlier. ABN Amro plans to axe 5,200 full-time jobs by 2028.

The bank's cost-to-income ratio fell to 55.9%, compared with 61% a year earlier and a European average of 52.4%, according to data from the European Banking Authority.

"The number of full-time (job) equivalents decreased by 528 in the first quarter," CEO Marguerite Bérard said in a statement, adding that the pace of reductions should slow down over the rest of the year.

ABN Amro is not the only one planning layoffs, with France's BNP Paribas BNPP.PA and Societe Generale SOGN.PA and Germany's Commerzbank CKBG.DE also having announced cost-cutting measures.

The bank's fee income rose 20% to 608 million euros in the quarter, navigating lower interest rates with the European Central Bank keeping rates steady, forcing lenders to diversify revenue streams.

Net interest income, a measure of earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose to 1.64 billion euros, supported by new loans.

($1 = 0.8523 euros)

ABN Amro beats expectations as lower costs kick in https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ABN-RESULTS/GRAPH/zdpxgeakwvx/chart.png

Geopolitical tension stops banking rally https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ABN%20AMRO-STOCKS/GRAPH/gkvlkejzqpb/chart.png

 (Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

 ((mateusz.rabiega@thomsonreuters.com))