Top Dutch bank ABN AMRO said today it would cut over 7,000 jobs and close hundreds of branches to stem mounting costs after a 20 per cent rise in 2000 net profit failed to impress investors.
Full-year 2000 net profit was euro 3.097 billion, up from euro 2.57 billion in 1999 and towards the high end of analysts' expectations of euro 2.96 billion to euro 3.14 billion euros.
But shares in The Netherlands' biggest bank fell 6.1 per cent on concerns about rising costs and its ability to reach performance goals in 2001 and beyond.
ABN AMRO said it would cut around 7,000 staff - almost three times more than initially planned - and close hundreds of branches in The Netherlands.
Intensifying its cost cutting was the only way boost profit in such a saturated market, it said.