ING posts 2Q18 net result of €1,429 million

Amsterdam, 2 August 2018, 7:00 am CET

CEO statement

“Our drive to constantly innovate and offer a differentiating customer experience contributed to our strong commercial performance in the second quarter of 2018,” said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. “Our global customer base reached 38.2 million, of which 12.0 million are primary customers. We are grateful for the trust our customers place in us and are committed to serving them to the best of our ability. Our employees consistently make customers their highest priority while adapting to the many changes brought by our ongoing transformation programmes, which will further improve our service proposition and operational efficiency.

“In the second quarter, we undertook several initiatives to build on our ambition to become the ‘go-to’ place for all the financial needs of customers. We partnered with French insurer AXA to create personalised insurance products and services for customers. Together, we aim to disrupt the insurance market with a digital platform that will offer property & casualty, health and protection insurance in six of our Challengers markets, in a clear and easy way.

“We also worked on innovative digital solutions that empower small businesses and entrepreneurs to find the best funding for their specific needs. We partnered with Funding Options in the Netherlands and invested in FinCompare in Germany – two digital platforms that offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to a wide range of financing options that they can easily compare and select. In Poland, we launched Invoice Financing, a digital microfactoring solution for SMEs that we developed in-house. It puts SME customers in control over which invoices they want to finance and when.

Our drive to constantly innovate and offer a differentiating customer experience contributed to our strong quarter.

Tweet this

“The second quarter also marked the completion of a key milestone in ING’s transformation with the merger of Record Bank into ING in Belgium. Record Bank customers were successfully migrated to ING’s platform, now enabling all customers in Belgium to benefit from one consistent client-service model that is digitally enabled and supported by our branch network. But we aren’t finished yet; our next priorities are to rationalise our product assortment and to unite the IT platforms of Belgium and the Netherlands. These initiatives are integral to unifying our cross-border organisation and unlocking synergies in two of our largest markets for the benefit of customers.

“Our net core lending book increased by €14.2 billion in the second quarter through well-diversified and disciplined growth across both Retail and Wholesale Banking. Despite the low interest rate environment, the net interest margin held up well. We remain conscious of maintaining a healthy balance between risk and returns. ING Group’s second-quarter 2018 underlying result before tax was €2,022 million, reflecting our continued loan growth and solid net fee and commission income. Risk costs remained low at 15 basis points of average risk-weighted assets. The underlying return on equity on a four-quarter rolling average basis was 10.4%.

“ING Group’s fully loaded CET1 ratio was 14.1% at the end of June 2018, as the second-quarter capital generation was outpaced by an increase in RWA, mainly stemming from business growth and a macro-prudential add-on. In the second quarter, we reserved €0.9 billion of the quarterly net profit for future dividend payments, as we did with the first-quarter net profit. ING will pay an interim cash dividend of €0.24 per ordinary share over the first six months of 2018. We remain committed to maintaining a strong capital position and reiterate our aim to pay a progressive dividend.

“Our second-quarter performance confirms that we’re living up to our Customer Promise every day. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on managing expenses, optimising operational excellence, enhancing our compliance and non-financial risk practices, and executing our digital strategy. I’m confident that our efforts will further strengthen our company and enable sustainable success for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders.”

Analyst and investor conference call

2 August 2018 at 9:00 am CET

+31 (0)20 531 5821 (NL)
+44 203 365 3209 (UK)
+1 866 349 6092 (US)

Live audio webcast at www.ing.com

Media conference call

2 August 2018 at 11:00 am CET

+31 (0)20 531 5871 (NL)
+44 203 365 3210 (UK)

Live audio webcast at www.ing.com

Note for editors

For further information on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroom or via the @ING_news Twitter feed. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr. Footage (B-roll) of ING is available via ing.yourmediakit.com, or can be requested by emailing info@yourmediakit.com. ING presentations are available at SlideShare.

ING PROFILE

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s
more than 52,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.

ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

Sustainability forms an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s ranking as a leader in the banks industry group by Sustainalytics. ING Group shares are included in the FTSE4Good Index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(Europe and World), where ING is also among the leaders in the banks industry group.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION

Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014.

ING Group’s annual accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (‘IFRS-EU’). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise,
the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2017 ING Group consolidated annual accounts. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING’s core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) potential consequences of European Union countries leaving the European Union or a break-up of the euro, (4) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as well as conditions in the credit and capital markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (5) changes affecting interest rate levels, (6) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (7) changes in investor and customer behaviour, (8) changes in general competitive factors, (9) changes in laws and regulations and the interpretation and application thereof, (10) geopolitical risks and policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, (11) changes in standards and interpretations under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the application thereof, (12) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, and other changes in accounting assumptions and methodologies including changes in valuation of issued securities and credit market exposure, (13) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (14) changes in credit ratings, (15) the outcome of current and future legal and regulatory proceedings, (16) operational risks, such as system disruptions or failures, breaches of security, cyberattacks, human error, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including in respect of third parties with which we do business, (17) the inability to protect our intellectual property and infringement claims by third parties, (18) the inability to retain key personnel, (19) business, operational, regulatory, reputation and other risks in connection with climate change, (20) ING’s ability to achieve its strategy, including projected operational synergies and cost-saving programmes and (21) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the 2017 annual report of ING Groep N.V. (including the Risk Factors contained
therein) and ING’s more recent disclosures, including press releases, which are available on www.ING.com. Many of those factors are beyond ING’s control.

Any forward looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.

This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.