Merchant bank NIBC said on Tuesday its first-half net profit almost tripled due to a sharp decline in impairments which offset falling dividend and trading income.

NIBC, which is not listed on the stock exchange, posted net profit of €42m, compared with €15m in the year-earlier period.
According to news agency Reuters, the bank’s CEO Jeroen Drost also said NIBC’s private equity owners remain happy with its strategy and continue to fully support the bank, two-and-a-half years after the planned sale to Iceland’s now-bankrupt Kaupthing Bank fell through.