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ABN AMRO beats profit forecasts
 ABN AMRO bank headquarters in Amsterdam AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Dutch bank ABN AMRO shot past analysts' forecasts with a 35 percent jump in third-quarter profit and raised its outlook for the second half, giving its sluggish shares a boost on Monday. The biggest Dutch bank said it now expected profit in the second half at least in line with the first six months of the year, excluding exceptional items. ABN had previously predicted a weaker result in the second half after net profit of 1.88 billion euros ($2.28 billion) in the first six months. ABN's underperforming shares -- down nearly 2 percent since the start of the year -- jumped 3.6 percent in early trading as investors cheered the results. "This is the third time this year that the bank exceeded expectations at the quarterly results," said brokerage Petercam, which rates the stock "reduce." "In contrast to previous quarters ... the result improvement is broadly based." The bank said third-quarter net profit rose to 1.21 billion euros -- the first time it has reported a quarterly profit of more than 1 billion euros. "The group's performance in the first nine months of the year was good and was underpinned by strong organic growth of our consumer and commercial client revenues in our mid-market franchises in Brazil, North America, the Netherlands and Asia," Chief Executive Rijkman Groenink said in a statement. The results were supported by large one-off items including a 196 million euros net gain the bank saw on the sale of Brazilian business Real Seguros. A Reuters poll of 17 analysts had forecast on average that ABN would report net profit of 820 million euros, down from 892 million a year ago. Chief Financial Officer Tom de Swaan said all divisions contributed to the bullish results, as did cost savings, which he said continued to develop as forecast. De Swaan, speaking on CNBC television, noted the bank had benefited in the quarter from lower-than-expected loan-loss charges, which rose to just 200 million euros from 138 million. "This continues to reflect the good quality of the loan portfolio," de Swaan said. "There were very, very low provisions in the U.S. in the third quarter." The bank had flagged an increase in loan losses when announcing second-quarter results, citing in part sluggish growth in its home market in the Netherlands. "The outlook is not unambitious," Rabobank Securities said in a note, forecasting that ABN would post a fourth-quarter profit of 912 million euros. Rabo rates ABN "neutral." The bank said net profit at its closely watched wholesale unit was 172 million, up from 133 million a year earlier, thanks to a strong performance over traditionally weak summer months, tightening credit spreads and rising equity markets. ABN is taking over Italy's Antonveneta, and now that battle is successfully behind it, analysts have turned their attention on to how the bank will improve returns at the wholesale division, among the industry's lowest per capita. ABN AMRO has promised more details on this and a bank restructuring announced earlier in the month at an investors' day on December 14. The group's shares have underperformed the benchmark DJ Stoxx European banks index -- which is up around 10 percent this year -- partly due to investor concerns about whether Antonveneta was the right strategic move and about the 3.2 billion euro price tag. The shares trade at a significant discount to most of its peers, trading at a multiple of about 10 times 2005 estimated earnings versus a sector average of around 16 times. 
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