ABN Amro reports big jump in 2015 net profit

ABN Amro, the Dutch bank that began a phased return to the market last year, says its 2015 net profit soared 70 percent to 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion), despite rising regulatory costs.

Chairman of the bank's managing board Gerrit Zalm said Wednesday that "2015 was a good year for the bank." Operating income rose 5 percent to 8.4 billion euros ($9.4 billion) from 2014.

Underlying net profit, stripping out exceptional items, rose 24 percent. The Dutch state spent 21.7 billion euros to nationalize the bank during 2008's financial crisis, together with the Dutch operations of Belgium's now-defunct Fortis NV, which was part of a consortium trying to take over ABN Amro.