First quarter results demonstrate resilience of ING’s portfolio of businesses
First quarter results demonstrate resilience of ING’s portfolio of businesses
16 May 2007
- Underlying net profit EUR 1,894 million, down 3.2% but flat excluding currency effects
- All business lines grew pre-tax profit with the exception of Retail Banking, which had a record 1Q2006
- Strong volume growth in savings, mortgages and current accounts largely offset pressure from yield curves
- Decline of most currencies against the euro had a negative impact of EUR 61 million on net results
- Commercial momentum continues, particularly at ING’s growth engines
- ING Direct adds EUR 5.8 billion in own-originated mortgages, 707,000 new customers in the first quarter
- Life insurance sales up 27.9% in Central Europe, 19.8% in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan
- Net inflow of EUR 14.0 billion lifts total assets under management to EUR 619.4 billion
- ING continues to invest to support growth in mature and developing markets
- Postbank and ING Bank to join forces under a single ING brand in the Netherlands from 2009
- ING Direct has initiated process to obtain license in Japan and expects to launch later this year
- Investment continues in greenfield operations in Russia, Romania, India, variable annuities in Europe
- ING plans EUR 5 billion share buyback to optimise capital structure after funding growth
Chairman’s Statement
“Strong commercial growth helped compensate for a challenging interest rate environment in the first quarter, illustrating the resilience of ING’s portfolio of businesses,” said Michel Tilmant, Chairman of ING Group. “Flat yield curves put pressure on interest income at the banking businesses, however that was offset to a large extent by higher volumes in savings and mortgages as strong business momentum continued. The decline of most currencies against the euro had a negative impact on income and profit, and non-life claims increased from historical lows. At the same time, ING continued to benefit from the benign credit environment as well as favourable equity and real estate markets.”
“ING continues to focus on increasing operating efficiency while investing to support commercial growth, and against this backdrop operating expenses have been allowed to increase 7.7%.”
“Growth momentum continued in both banking and insurance, particularly at our growth engines: ING Direct, life insurance in developing markets, and retirement services. ING Direct added 707,000 new customers and EUR 5.8 billion in own-originated mortgages in the first quarter. Sales of life insurance were up 27.9% in Central Europe and 19.8% in Asia ex-Japan. ING Real Estate showed solid growth, with profit up 36.2%. Assets under management showed a strong net inflow of EUR 14.0 billion, bringing total assets under management to EUR 619.4 billion.”
“New growth initiatives are also being taken. ING announced today that Postbank and ING Bank will join forces in the Netherlands, creating the leading Dutch retail bank with more than 8 million customers. ING Direct has initiated the process to obtain a banking license in Japan and expects to launch later this year. ING made its first foray into the European variable annuity market with a launch in Spain in March and a second country is expected within three months. New greenfields for life and pensions are being developed in Russia and Romania, as well as an accelerated expansion in India.”
“While retaining sufficient capital to fund organic growth, potential bolt-on acquisitions and an attractive dividend, ING announced plans today to return EUR 5 billion in capital to shareholders through a share buyback over the coming 12 months to optimise the capital structure and maximise shareholder returns.”
“Looking forward to the rest of the year, we do not anticipate a significant shift in the market environment. ING is confident that we will continue to create value for our shareholders as we invest in commercial expansion and new initiatives.”
Press Conference, 16 May, 11.00 a.m. CET, ING House, Amsterdam
Webcast: www.ing.com
Analyst Conference Call: 16 May, 9 a.m. CET.
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Analyst Conference Call: 16 May, 4 p.m.. CET
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Certain of the statements contained in this release are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, among other things, (i) general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING’s core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) interest rate levels, (vii) currency exchange rates, (viii) general competitive factors, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, and (x) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities. ING assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document