ABN AMRO Group NV posted fourth-quarter 2017 consolidated profit attributable to owners of the company of €520 million, up from €323 million in the same period in 2016.
Impairment charges on loans and other receivables for the bank amounted to a release of €34 million, compared to a charge of €35 million a year ago.
Net interest income increased to €1.70 billion, up from €1.58 billion in the year-ago period, while net fee and commission income fell year over year to €443 million from €459 million.
The underlying profit for the period was also €542 million, on the back of higher operating income, a lower cost base and net impairment releases. The year-ago underlying profit was €333 million.
The group's underlying ROE was 10.9% for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to 7.3% in the year-ago period.
For full year 2017, ABN AMRO reported profit attributable to owners of the company of €2.72 billion, up from €1.76 billion a year ago.
The group's full-year 2017 underlying ROE was 14.5%, compared to 11.8% a year ago.
As of Dec. 31, 2017, the fully loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 17.7%, up from 17.6% at the end of September 2017 and 17.0% at 2016-end.
ABN AMRO proposed a final cash dividend of 80 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for 2017 to €1.45 per share, up from 84 cents per share in 2016. The payout ratio increased to 50% in line with the targeted payout ratio for 2017.
