ING posts 2013 underlying net profit of EUR 3,255 million
12 February 2014
- ING Group full-year 2013 underlying net profit of EUR 3,255 million, up 22.2% from full-year 2012
- 2013 net result EUR 3,232 million, or EUR 0.85 per share, including divestments, special items and discontinued operations
- 4Q13 net result of EUR 539 million, or EUR 0.14 per share, vs. EUR 0.39 in 4Q12 and EUR 0.03 in 3Q13
- Bank 4Q13 underlying result before tax of EUR 904 million, more than triple that of 4Q12 but down 18.0% sequentially
- Income was strong, reflecting increase in net interest margin to 1.45% and result on unwinding the IABF in December 2013
- Expenses flat vs. 4Q12, but up 10.9% vs. 3Q13 due to Dutch bank tax and additional restructuring charges in the Netherlands
- Risk costs remained elevated at EUR 560 million, but were 4.9% lower than in 4Q12 and up 1.4% from 3Q13
- ING Insurance 4Q13 operating result ongoing business of EUR 215 million, up 13.2% vs. 4Q12 but down 6.9% vs. 3Q13
- 4Q13 operating result ongoing business reflects improvement in results at Netherlands Life and lower funding costs
- Result before tax of EUR -428 million refl ects Japan Closed Block VA one-off charge of EUR 575 million to restore reserve adequacy
- Total new sales at ING Insurance were EUR 292 million, up 11.9% vs. 4Q12 and 10.6% vs. 3Q13, at constant currencies
- Standalone Bank and Insurance entities well capitalised
- Bank core Tier 1 ratio strong at 11.7% despite payment to the Dutch State in November 2013 and higher risk-weighted assets
- ING Insurance capital reinforced through EUR 1 billion debt-for-equity conversion in 4Q13; IGD ratio up strongly to 252%
- Measures taken in 1Q14 further improved the pro-forma solvency ratio of NN Life to ~234%; IPO to be appropriately capitalised
- Given ING’s priority to repay the Dutch State, the Executive Board will not propose to pay a dividend over 2013 at the AGM in May
Chairman’s Statement
“ING Group had a successful year in 2013, delivering an improved financial result while making significant progress on our transformation,” said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. “We reported a full-year underlying net profit of EUR 3,255 million, up 22.2% from 2012. The improvement was driven by a solid performance at ING Bank, which recorded a 21.6% increase in underlying pre-tax results, as well as an improved operating result for the ongoing business at ING Insurance which rose 6.4% from 2012.”
“We have also kept up the momentum on our transformation program in the fourth quarter, during which we resolved the divestment of our Asian Insurance and Investment Management businesses, reduced our stake in ING U.S. to 57%, and lowered our holding in SulAmérica. We have strengthened the capital position of ING Insurance ahead of its intended IPO in 2014. We also reduced our State support by paying another tranche of core Tier 1 securities in November, and by unwinding the IABF in December 2013. We are now within the final phase of our restructuring and have started 2014 as a simpler, stronger and more sustainable company.”
“While working diligently to strengthen our businesses for their independent futures, we have consistently placed our highest priority on customer-centricity and have gained more customers along the way. ING-DiBa, for example, welcomed its 8 millionth customer in 2013 and is the third largest retail bank in Germany by number of customers. In Spain, ING opened its millionth payment account, eight years after the first account was opened there. Our customers’ use of internet and mobile banking are expanding rapidly and we now have around 3 million mobile banking customers in 14 countries. We’re proud that customers choose to do business with us.”
“In the fourth quarter of 2013, ING Bank posted a solid underlying result before tax of EUR 904 million, reflecting a strengthening of the interest margin to 1.45% and despite seasonally lower activity in Financial Markets. The result on the unwinding of the IABF supported income in the fourth quarter and helped offset an increase in expenses, which was caused by the annual Dutch bank tax and additional restructuring charges in Retail Netherlands stemming from the extension of existing cost-saving programmes. Risk costs remained elevated and edged up slightly from the third quarter, but were down year-on-year. ING Bank continued to demonstrate progress towards Ambition 2015. The cost/income ratio for the full year improved to 56.8% and the full-year underlying return on IFRS-EU equity rose to 9.0%, within reach of our 2015 target. The year-end capital position was strong with a core Tier 1 ratio of 11.7% and a pro-forma fully-loaded CRD IV core Tier 1 ratio of 10.0%.”
“ING Insurance moved forward in defining its independent future. Its new ‘NN‘ brand was launched in October and the segmentation of ING Insurance was aligned to better reflect its businesses. The fourth-quarter operating result for the ongoing business of ING Insurance was EUR 215 million, primarily reflecting improved performance in Netherlands Life. We have taken measures in the fourth quarter of 2013, as well as in early 2014, to fortify the capital position of ING Insurance. As a result, the IGD and NN Life solvency ratios increased sharply and local entities are currently adequately capitalised. Preparations for the base case IPO are on track and we intend to go to market this year, assuming conditions are favourable.”
“For 2014, I am confident that we are well positioned to achieve our strategic objectives and that we will continue to make progress in completing the restructuring, while keeping our customers at the heart of everything we do.”
Analyst and investor conference call
12 February 2014, at 9:00 a.m. CET
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UK +44 20 7190 1537
USA +1 480 629 9031
Listen to the investor conference call at www.ing.com
Press conference
12 February 2014, at 11:00 a.m. CET
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UK +44 203 365 3210
Listen to the media conference at www.ing.com
Disclaimer
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, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 3Q2013 ING Group Interim Accounts. The Financial statements for 2013 are in progress and may be subject to adjustments from subsequent events. 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, 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) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of ING’s restructuring plan to separate banking and insurance operations, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit-ratings, (18) ING’s ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Risk Factors section contained in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. 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 forwardlooking 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 buy, any securities.