World Business Briefing: The Netherlands: Profit Up at ABN Amro
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ABN Amro Holdings, the Dutch bank, posted a 4.6 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings on higher interest income, asset disposals and higher fees and commissions. Net profit was 1.36 billion euros ($1.76 billion), up from 1.30 billion euros a year earlier. ABN predicted earnings per share in 2007 of at least 2.30 euros ($2.98), apart from any asset sales, which would be a step back from the 2.50 euros ($3.24) it earned in 2006, but above the 2.02 euros per share it earned in 2006 excluding certain items. The 2007 growth is âto be achieved mainly by improving our operating performance,â the chairman, Rijkman W. J. Groenink, said in a statement. He said the company expected to grow in Asia, Brazil and Italy. Operational improvement in mature markets like the Netherlands and in the United States, where ABN Amro operates LaSalle Bank in the Midwest, would come from cost-cutting.
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Dutch bank ABN AMRO can go ahead with its $21 billion sale of U.S. subsidiary LaSalle Bank to Bank of America, the Dutch Supreme Court said on Friday, boosting the chance that Barclays could succeed in its all-share bid to buy ABN for 64 billion euros ($88 billion).
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Dutch brewing company Heineken NV reported a 26 percent rise in first-half profit Wednesday, with strong sales in the Americas and a surge in beer drinking in Europe during the soccer World Cup. It also raised its earnings growth foreecast for the full year.
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Dutch bank ABN AMRO  posted a 7.6 percent rise in its annual net profit on Thursday, after buying Italian bank Antonveneta and selling off parts of its business, and said it would buy back 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) of shares by the end of June.
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Profit rose 34 percent, bolstered by AOL asset sales in Europe, a rise in digital cable and phone customers, and online advertising sales.
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The company said quarterly profit would be higher than analystsâ estimates and it raised its full-year outlook as exchange rates and price and volume increases offset high commodity costs.
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The bidding war for Dutch banking group ABN Amro, which has pitted Britain&#39;s Royal Bank of Scotland against rival Barclays, looms large over the London stock market next week.
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Dutch financial services group ING  said on Wednesday it took an impairment charge of 194 million euros ($285.6 million) in the fourth quarter, but gains from an ABN stake sale helped offset the loss, pushing quarterly net profit up 7.6 percent.
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Third-quarter profit rose at Alcan Inc. (AL.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) on higher aluminum prices and shipments that helped it beat soaring energy costs, the company
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American Express has seen its quarterly profits climb, thanks to rising credit card use especially by international cardholders.
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An RBS-led group sweetens its bid for Dutch lender ABN Amro, boosting the amount of cash it has offered.
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LONDON/BEIJING  - British bank Barclays raised its bid for Dutch group ABN AMRO to 67.5 billion euros ($93 billion) on Monday, helped by some of the biggest ever overseas investments by China and Singapore.
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Global mining giant Anglo American said its net profit struck 7.304 billion dollars (4.963 billion euros) last year, up 18 percent on 2006, boosted by high output and soaring metals prices.
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Dutch bank ABN Amro today reported a 26% rise in net profit for the third quarter to â¬1.05 billion, mainly due to the exceptional gain from the sale of Bank of Asia but the operational results dropped slightly.
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Shares in Dutch investment bank ABN Amro surged on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Wednesday as investors reacted to a proposal to break up the group.
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Britain&#39;s Barclays  has raised  its offer for ABN AMRO  to 67.5 billion euros ($93  billion) and included 37 percent in cash as it seeks to regain  the initiative in the world&#39;s biggest bank takeover battle.
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Business & money: Stakes raised in battle for control of ABN Amro as Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium trumps Barclays' offer for Dutch bank.