ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

Q2 net profit was EUR 781 million, up almost 30% year on year, and return on equity improved to 12.1%. Client assets increased by just over EUR 25 billion, client deposits rose over EUR 5 billion, commercial NII increased 5% sequentially, fee income rose 2% quarter on quarter to a record level, and other income improved to EUR 106 million. Credit quality stayed solid with cost of risk at 4 bps, Stage 3 ratio at 2.1%, impairments of EUR 24 million, and the pro forma CET1 ratio at 15.9% while reported CET1 was 15.3%. For full-year 2026, management raised commercial NII guidance to around EUR 6.8 billion and lowered cost guidance to around EUR 5.5 billion, both including NIBC; it also expects NIBC to add around EUR 6.6 billion of RWAs next quarter, while the DNB mortgage floor termination is expected to reduce RWAs by around EUR 7 billion in Q4, the EBA property loss rate update by around EUR 1.5 billion in Q3, and the Alfam sale by a further EUR 1 billion in Q4.

Marguerite Bérard-Andrieu framed the quarter as evidence that the strategy is working across profitable growth, cost rightsizing, and capital optimization. She emphasized continued momentum in Wealth Management, Corporate Banking, and deposits, plus the completion of NIBC and the Worldline/ICS partnership as strategic fit moves. Her tone was confident but cautious: she repeatedly said the bank is pleased with progress, but still early in a three-year plan and not yet changing 2028 targets.

Ferdinand Vaandrager highlighted that the main financial drivers were higher liability margins, strong Clearing results, and higher liability volumes. He said liability margin improved by 5 bps, average liability volume increased by EUR 4 billion, and asset margins declined by 2 bps because of the higher share of government-backed, capital-light mortgages and lower LTVs; he also noted strong underlying growth in mortgages and corporate loans despite the margin pressure. On costs, he said guidance excludes restructuring costs and incidentals, with full-year 2026 headline costs at around EUR 5.5 billion including NIBC and regulatory cost around EUR 150 million, while around EUR 300 million of the EUR 900 million 2028 savings target has already been realized.

Analysts focused mainly on capital returns, loan growth versus margins, deposit competition, and the sustainability of the higher NII outlook. Management said it will do its annual capital assessment in Q4 and would not speculate on extra distributions before then, though it may consider additional payouts over time if capital stays significantly above target. On NII, management said the stronger outlook is driven mainly by liability margin and other commercial NII, while asset margins are under pressure from NHG-backed mortgages, lower LTVs, and competitive pricing; on deposits, it said the market is competitive but ABN AMRO has still gained market share.