ING Posts Solid Q1 Gains; Net Profits up 72% Percent to $2.44 Billion

May 16, 2005

ING, the Dutch insurance and financial services giant, enjoyed a very good first quarter of 2005, as the group’s net profit rose 72 percent to 1.941 billion euros ($2.44 billion) The company’s announcement noted that all of its business lines had contributed to the growth in profits.

Other first quarter 2005 highlights cited in the report were as follows:
— Net profit per share increased to 0.89 euros from 0.54 euros in first quarter 2004 ($1.12 from $0.68).
— Profit before tax excluding impact of divestments rose 28.9 percent to 2.185 billion ($2.75 billion).
— Insurance profit before tax excluding divestments rose 44.5 percent, driven by all regions.
— Banking profit before tax excluding divestments rose 18.3 percent, led by ING Direct
— RAROC Banking rose to 19.8 percent excluding divestments, IRR insurance rose to 12.6 percent
— Total operating expenses declined by 398 million euros ($501 million) compared with the fourth quarter of 2004.

“ING Group made a strong start to the year. All six business lines contributed to the sharp increase in first-quarter net profit, which was supported by a lower tax rate due to tax-exempt gains on divestments and private equity,” commented Michel Tilmant, Chairman of the Executive Board. “We saw healthy progress at the Group’s three growth engines. ING Direct added one million new customers and attracted more than 15 billion euros [$18.88 billion] in funds entrusted in the first quarter alone. The life insurance businesses in developing markets posted a 36 percent increase in the value of new business, and Asia/Pacific accounted for more than half of the Group’s total. Assets in the pensions and retirement savings business also continued to grow.”

Addressing the insurance related results for the period, Tilmant observed: “Supported by improvements in risk management as well as favorable market conditions. Our life insurance businesses were helped by investment gains, while the non-life insurance business continued to benefit from exceptionally low claims, particularly in Canada. Looking forward to the full year, we are confident about the year ahead, although market circumstances have started to deteriorate and have become more challenging recently.”

The full report and additional comments and explanations may be obtained on the company’s Website at: www.ing.com.

Topics Profit Loss

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.