Net profit of Dutch bank ABN Amro decreases in Q2

Dutch bank ABN Amro had a net profit of 39 million euros (51.8 million U.S. dollars) in the second quarter of 2014, compared to a profit of 402 million euros in the same period last year, the Dutch bank declared on Friday.
The bank stated that the net profit was impacted by two special items, a 216 million euro one-off cost for the transition to a new pension scheme and a 67 million levy for the nationalization of another Dutch bank SNS Reaal, which was saved from bankruptcy in February 2013 by the Dutch state.
The operating income in the second quarter of 2014 was 1.917 billion euros, compared to 1.944 billion euros in Q2 of 2013, a decrease of 1 percent.
"In the second quarter, the Dutch economy showed signs of further improvement,"CEO Gerrit Zalm said in a press release."The Dutch housing market continued to improve in the second quarter, resulting in a growing number of residential housing transactions and an on-going rise in average house prices since the middle of last year."
"Overall, we are satisfied with the results and remain cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the Dutch economy, although with geopolitical risks in the world mounting, the upward trend may be strained going forward," Zalm concluded.