Rijkman Groenink Quotations

We achieved strong results during the year, driven by strong organic growth in all our consumer and commercial client businesses. This organic growth reflects the benefits of continuing focus on the strong local relationships we have with our mid-market clients.

Should these conditions prevail in the rest of this year, it will be a challenge to equal the record profits of 2000.

Given the economic uncertainties, it is difficult to predict how the remainder of the year will transpire,

Further improving our compliance is the highest priority of the bank.

We can't go any faster than we are going right now.

This systematic focus on maximizing shareholder value implies a major top-down change in the bank's corporate culture,

We expect current market conditions to continue for the remainder of the year and, indeed, into the new year.

These are sound results, but we know we can do even better in the future, ... The revised strategy and new structure for the bank that we announced at the end of May will give us the focus and managerial accountability we need to further increase profitability in the coming years.

An undesirable aspect of the current economic and market conditions is the level of provisioning. Provisioning has increased this quarter again.

The boom in electronic banking and the reduction in cash transactions - partly due to the introduction of the euro - are changing the role of the branch network,

At this stage, an acquisition in China is not on our short-list.

You can safely take that any legal procedures will be stopped.

The group's performance in the first nine months of the year was good and was underpinned by strong organic growth of our consumer and commercial client revenues in our mid-market franchises in Brazil, North America, the Netherlands and Asia,