NIBC Bank, the Dutch financial services group backed by investor JC Flowers, suffered a double blow today as US asset-backed securities losses all but wiped out its first-half profits and sparked a credit rating downgrade.

NIBC had hoped to go public earlier this year, however the "quick-flip" Amsterdam listing was shelved in March in light of problems with its asset-backed trading business. The company said today a €137m ($189m) loss on its US asset-backed debt investment book dragged down net first-half profits fell to just €3m.