AMSTERDAM, Aug 12 : The Dutch lender Rabobank on Thursday reported a net profit of 2.16 billion euros over the first half of 2021, as economic recovery helped it to release previous provisions for bad loans.
The net profit was almost 10 times higher than the year before when the coronavirus pandemic led the cooperative bank to set aside over 1.4 billion euros for souring loans.
In the first six months of this year, 274 million euros in provisions were released again as the Dutch economy recovered from its COVID-19 slump.
There are two sides of the story when looking at the first half of 2021. The main benefit is that we see clients benefiting from a recovery, said Chief Executive Wiebe Draijer.
On the other hand, we see that some clients are expected to face various financial difficulties in the second half of the year as various Government support measures begin.
Rabobank, known primarily as an agricultural lender, said that its new mortgage portfolio had remained the largest in the Netherlands with a market share of 23% of residential production.
Deposits climbed by 4% as storedowns were pushing up savings for consumers and companies.