Source: ING Group

ING posts 2013 underlying net profit of EUR 3,255 million

ING Group full-year 2013 underlying net profit of EUR 3,255 million, up 22.2% from full-year 2012
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2013 net result EUR 3,232 million, or EUR 0.85 per share, including divestments, special items and discontinued operations
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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
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Income was strong, reflecting increase in net interest margin to 1.45% and result on unwinding the IABF in December 2013
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Expenses flat vs. 4Q12, but up 10.9% vs. 3Q13 due to Dutch bank tax and additional restructuring charges in the Netherlands
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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 businesses of EUR 215 million, up 13.2% vs. 4Q12 but down 6.9% vs. 3Q13
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4Q13 operating result ongoing business reflects improvement in results at Netherlands Life and lower funding costs
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Result before tax of EUR -428 million reflects Japan Closed Block VA one-off charge of EUR 575 million to restore reserve adequacy
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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
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Bank core Tier 1 ratio strong at 11.7% despite payment to the Dutch State in November 2013 and higher risk-weighted assets
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ING Insurance capital reinforced through EUR 1 billion debt-for-equity conversion in 4Q13; IGD ratio up strongly to 252%
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Measures taken in 1Q14 further improved the pro-forma solvency ratio of NN Life to ~234%; IPO to be appropriately capitalised
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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."

 ING Group Key Figures
4Q2013 4Q20121 Change 3Q2013 Change FY2013 FY20121 Change
Profit and loss data (in EUR million)
Underlying result before tax ING Bank 904 283 219.4% 1,103 -18.0% 4,323 3,554 21.6%
Operating result ongoing business ING Insurance 215 190 13.2% 231 -6.9% 886 833 6.4%
Non-operating items ongoing business ING Insurance -117 -185 -56 -229 -779
Japan Closed Block VA -540 -31 70 -871.4% -669 105 -737.1%
Underlying result before tax Insurance other 4 17 -76.5% -2 89 43 107.0%
Underlying result before tax ING Group 467 275 69.8% 1,346 -65.3% 4,400 3,756 17.1%
Underlying net result ING Group 405 163 148.5% 978 -58.6% 3,255 2,664 22.2%
Net gains/losses on divestments -38 1,612 -950 -64 1,696
Net result from divested units -50 1 -37 -84
Net result from discontinued operations Insurance/IM Asia 33 78 56 220 338
Net result from discontinued operations Insurance ING U.S. 2 179 301 79 39 495
Special items -40 -624 -63 -182 -949
Net result 539 1,482 -63.6% 101 433.7% 3,232 4,161 -22.3%
Net result per share (in EUR)3 0.14 0.39 -64.1% 0.03 366.7% 0.85 1.10 -22.7%
Capital Ratios (end of period)
Shareholders' equity (in EUR billion) 50 -7.3% 46 52 -11.3%
ING Group debt/equity ratio 7.8% 8.5% 11.3%
Bank core Tier 1 ratio 12.4% 11.7% 11.9%
Insurance EurAsia IGD Solvency I ratio 212% 252% 236%
Other data (end of period)
Underlying return on equity based on IFRS-EU equity4 3.4% 1.3% 7.9% 6.4% 5.5%
Employees (FTEs, end of period, adjusted for divestments) 76,671 -0.8% 76,050 77,835 -2.3%

1 The comparative figures of this period have been restated to reflect the new pension accounting requirements under IFRS, which took effect on 1 January 2013.
2 The results of Insurance ING U.S. have been transferred to "net result from discontinued operations" as of 30 September 2013.
3 Result per share differs from IFRS earnings per share in respect of attributions to the core Tier 1 securities.
4 Annualised underlying net result divided by average IFRS-EU equity.
NOTE: Underlying figures and Operating results are non-GAAP measures. These are derived from figures according to IFRS-EU by excluding impact from divestments, discontinued operations and special items and, for Operating results only, gains/losses and impairments, revaluations and market & other impacts.

Investor conference call, press conference and webcast
Ralph Hamers, Patrick Flynn and Wilfred Nagel will discuss the results in an analyst and investor conference call on 12 February 2014 at 9:00 a.m. CET. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 794 8500 (NL), +44 20 7190 1537 (UK) or +1 480 629 9724 (US) and via live audio webcast at www.ing.com.

Ralph Hamers, Patrick Flynn and Wilfred Nagel will also discuss the results in a press conference on 12 February 2014 at 11:00 a.m. CET. Journalists are invited to join the conference at ING Amsterdamse Poort, Bijlmerplein 888, Amsterdam. Journalists can also join in listen-only mode at +31 20 531 5846 (NL) or +44 203 365 3210 (UK) and via live audio webcast at www.ing.com.
Investor enquiries
T: +31 20 576 6396
E: investor.relations@ing.com
Press enquiries
T: +31 20 576 5000
E: media.relations@ing.com

Additional information is available in the following documents which can be downloaded from around 7:00 am CET at www.ing.com/qr:
ING Group 4Q2013 Full press Release (PDF)
ING Group 4Q2013 Quarterly Report (PDF)
ING Group 4Q2013 Statistical Supplement (PDF and XLS)
ING Group 4Q2013 Historical Trend Data (PDF and XLS)
ING Group 4Q2013 Analyst Presentation (PDF)
ING Group 4Q2013 Media Presentation (PDF)

Information for editors
A video interview with Ralph Hamers is available at http://www.youtube.com/ING and www.ing.com  
Footage (B-roll) of ING and quotes from the interview can be downloaded via www.videobankonline.com, or requested by emailing info@videobankonline.com.
The ING Group 4Q2013 Analyst and Media Presentations are also available at www.slideshare.net/ING

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION
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 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 buy, any securities.
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