ING returns to profit in Q3

AMSTERDAM - ING Groep NV, the bailed-out Dutch financial services company, said Wednesday it made a profit in the third quarter, ending a year of heavy losses, as financial market conditions recovered.

Net profit was euro499 million ($748 million), compared with a loss of euro478 million in the same period a year ago, when the financial crisis became most acute.

"Negative market impacts were less severe than in previous quarters as equity markets improved," said Chief Executive Jan Hommen. Banking profits were helped by better interest margins and lower costs.

"However, the company's results continued to be impacted by impairments on mortgage-backed securities and negative revaluations on real estate investments," he said.

Shares rose 4.2 percent to euro9.95 in Amsterdam.

The current quarter included euro1.54 billion in market-related losses and provisions for bad loans, less than both the euro2.40 billion booked in the year-ago period and euro2.27 billion in the second quarter this year.

ING was forced to seek two bailout packages from the Dutch state as a result of the financial crisis.

Last month it announced plans to split its banking and insurance arms by 2013 in order to simplify its structure and appease the complaints of European regulators about the state assistance. ING said it would also issue euro7.5 billion worth of new shares to begin repaying some of the assistance it has received.

At that time, it indicated its third quarter "underlying" earnings, a nonstandard measure that strips out gains or losses on divestments and one-time charges, would be about euro750 million. ING reported underlying profit of euro778 million Wednesday, up from an underlying loss of euro568 million in the same period a year earlier.

SNS Securities analyst Maarten Altena said the earnings were in line with expectations, though loan losses were slightly better.

Hommen, the CEO, said the separation of ING's insurance arm and share issue is proceeding as planned.

"We have had a lot of interest expressed" in purchasing parts of ING insurance, but the company is not in negotiations yet, Hommen said on a conference call with analysts. "With markets recovering this is not the time to be extremely quick" with a sale.

He said ING would aim to float the insurance arm on the stock exchange, weighing the benefits of any purchase offers against that plan.

ING will pay off half of euro10 billion it received from the Dutch state after carrying out the share issue, and Hommen said the disposal of the insurance arm would raise enough to pay off the rest.

The company will pay the Dutch state euro1.3 billion in the fourth quarter to resolve regulators' complaints about its other bailout package, under which the state assumed the risks for most of ING's derivatives.

ING's banking arm reported third quarter profit of euro274 million, up from a loss of euro216 million. This year's figure includes euro664 million in charges on debt derivatives and euro423 million in losses on real estate.

Provisions for bad loans rose to euro662 million from euro373 million a year ago.

ING said its core Tier 1 ratio — a key measure of a bank's solvency — was 7.6 percent, up from 7.3 percent at the end of June.

ING's insurance arm reported profit of euro587 million, from a loss of euro496 million. This year's figures include gains on investments as the stock market recovered, and a higher appraisal of the value of its insurance policies.

The company said earnings were helped by cost-cutting. ING has slashed some 10,400 jobs so far this year, about 8.3 percent of its total.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.