ABN Amro, the state-owned Dutch bank preparing to sell shares to the public, said fourth-quarter losses widened 24 per cent as economic woes in the Netherlands forced it to set aside more bad-loan provisions.

The loss widened to €47 million from €38 million a year earlier and from a profit of €390 million in the third quarter, the bank said in a statement today.

It took €555 million in loan impairment charges compared with €466 million a year earlier and €212 million in the three months to September.

ABN Amro, the third-biggest Dutch bank, which derived 82 per cent of operating income from its home country last year, has suffered as the economy went through three recessions since 2008. The government said last year it plans to sell the bank in an initial public offering in 2015. – (Bloomberg )