State-owned bank ABN Amro booked a 30% drop in net profit in the second quarter of this year, as the economic crisis prompted it to make more write-offs.

Net profit reached €341m in the second three months of the year, while provisions for bad debts, a decline in property values and other one-offs almost doubled to €367m.
Over the first half of the year, net profit was down 15% at €827m, excluding merger costs.
CEO Gerrit Zalm said in a statement the bank had realised ‘a satisfactory result … in a difficult operating environment’.
‘For the remainder of 2012 we expect markets to remain subdued, loan impairments to increase further, and banking tax to have a significant impact,’ Zalm said.
Listing
Zalm later told reporters he still thinks an eventual stock exchange listing is the best solution for the bank. The Labour party earlier this month it favoured a partial private sale but said at least half the shares should remain in state hands.
‘I also think shareholders should have a long-term vision,’ Zalm is quoted as saying by news agency ANP. ‘But I think it will be difficult to get pension funds and insurers to invest in shares which are not listed.’
Zalm hopes to sell a ‘minority shareholding’ in ABN Amro in 2014.