AMSTERDAM, Aug 8: The head of Dutch banking group ABN Amro, Rijkman Groenink, lashed out on Thursday at fraudulent business practices which have led to several bankruptcies, saying his company was fed up.

Let me tell you in English that we are really ‘pissed off’, we are completely fed up, Groenink told a news conference in response to a question on recent bankrupties following the discovery of fraudulent accounting.

ABN Amro has suffered from the collapse of such high-profile US companies as Enron and WorldCom, announcing Thursday it would increase first-half provisions to 973 million dollars from an initial forecast of 900 million.

This substantial increase, in particular in the second quarter, is the result of the unprecedented number of bankruptcies caused by fradulent practices, the bank said.

Around 300 million euros are the direct consequence of fradulent practices, financial director Tom de Swaan told the press briefing.

ABN expects, however, the amount of provisions needed to cover its exposure to stabilise in the second half of the year.

For the second quarter of 2002, ABN posted a net profit of 534 million euros.—AFP