ING share price up as Dutch bank prepares to repay the last €1bn of its bailout cash
Dutch bank ING is on the verge of exiting the taxpayer bailout it received at the height of the financial crisis, yesterday reporting healthy profits for the third quarter.
The banking group made net profits of €928m (£725m), up from €128m in the same period of 2013.
Its retail banking arm made an underlying pre-tax profit of €946m, up 27 per cent on the year.
And ING made an underlying €677m in commercial banking, up 43.7 per cent. Overall profits were hit by the continued restructuring of the group, including €159m from discontinued operations in its NN Group insurance arm.
ING will make the final €1.025bn payment to the government tomorrow.
In total it will have repaid the €10bn bailout plus €3.5bn in interest and premiums – giving the Dutch government an annualised return of 12.7 per cent on the rescue package.
Analysts were very upbeat on the bank’s prospects.
“There is a serenity to these numbers that is a rarity among continental eurobanks and that is still not reflected in valuation,” said Jefferies’ Omar Fall.
ING’s shares rose 2.76 per cent.