The costs of a one-off levy to cover the nationalisation of a stricken rival helped lower 2014 net profit at Dutch cooperative lender Rabobank by 8 per cent compared to the year before, the bank said on Thursday.

The bank said it expected improvements across all business segments this year, helped by the low oil price and a continuing Dutch recovery, with downside risks coming from tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East and uncertainty over Greece.

The bank said it had nonetheless improved its underlying result, making a net profit of €1.8 billion last year, compared to €2 billion in 2013, off total income that fell only 1 percent to €12.9 billion.

“Given the still difficult econmomic condiitions ... our financial results for 2014 are not unsatisfactory,” said chief executive Wiebe Draijer.

The bank’s common equity tier 1 ratio rose 0.1 percentage point to 13.6 per cent, while its loan-to-deposit ratio fell 2 percentage points to 133 per cent.

Reuters