Nationalised bank ABN Amro booked net profit of €817m in the first half of this year, down 3% on a year ago.

Excluding special items, net profit for the first half of 2013 was €510m, 36% down than the previous year

The economic downturn continued to pressure the bank and there was an increase in loan defaults from both industry and on mortgages, chief exective Gerrit Zalm said in a statement.

Decline

‘A growing number of businesses that managed to weather the decline in revenues for a number of years are now reaching the end of their reserves,’ he said.

‘We expect loan impairments … to rise above last year’s level as the economic conditions in the Netherlands are set to remain challenging for the remainder of 2013.’

The government is expected to decide shortly when to privatise ABN Amro, which has been in state hands since 2008.