Dutch bank ABN Amro on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter net income that missed estimates, hurt by lower interest income and as impairments rose.
ABN Amro posted a quarterly net income of 316 million euros ($344.8 million), while analysts polled by the company on average had predicted it to rise to 429 million euros.
The bank said impairments jumped 51% in the final quarter of 2019, to 314 million euros, mainly due to write-offs by its corporate division on loans in the offshore energy sector.
High impairments on corporate loans in 2018 already led ABN to limit trade and commodity finance operations in the offshore energy, diamond and shipping sectors, but Chief Executive Officer Kees van Dijkhuizen said more measures are probably needed.
"We'll have to review the business again this year", he said. The lender gave no update on the investigation Dutch prosecutors started last September into ABN's alleged failings to detect money laundering and to report suspicious transactions.