Shares in Barclays' takeover target ABN Amro surged more than 5% this morning after a rival bidding consortium entered the fray and the Dutch bank revealed in an impromptu trading update that first-quarter profits rose by a quarter.

A bullish trading update from ABN Amro this morning showed that net first-quarter operating profits across the group were roughly a quarter higher than in the same period last year and the final three months of 2006.