UTRECHT , August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis reported on Monday a halving of its second-quarter net profits, cutting the figure for the first six months by 41 percent.

The company reported net profit of 830 million euros (1.3 billion dollars) in the second quarter, up three percent from the first quarter figure, but down from 1.616 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2007.

For the first six months, net profit fell from last year's 2.8 billion euros to 1.6 billion euros.

'Fortis continued to be impacted by the credit market turmoil,' acting chief executive officer Herman Verwilst said in a statement.

Yet the company's business units, including the recently acquired activities of Dutch bank ABN Amro, performed 'satisfactory' in turbulent market conditions.

'Most of the commercial activities were still able to grow underlying revenues. But we observe that the environment is becoming more difficult on different fronts.'