ABN Amro has raised its profit forecast for the year after strong revenues and lower loan loss provisions propelled the Dutch bank to a 22% quarter-on-quarter increase in net profits from investment banking in the third quarter of 2003.

Net profits at ABN Amro's wholesale clients business unit, which focuses on investment banking, increased to €134m ($156m) from €110m a quarter earlier as the division continued to gain momentum from its low point in the first quarter, when it posted a €20m net loss in investment banking.