ING to reward investors as quarterly profit soars

Dutch banking group ING reported on Friday a near fivefold increase in second-quarter profit as the economy improved, and said it would dish out 3.6 billion euros ($4.3 billion) to investors.

Net profit jumped to 1.5 billion euros in the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations.

The pandemic had prompted the bank to set aside 1.3 billion euros in the second quarter of 2020 to cover bad loans.

Hit by the health crisis, ING announced in November that it would cut 1,000 jobs by the end of 2021. The bank employs 53,000 people in over 40 countries.

Its earnings have improved, with profit rising by 50 percent in the first quarter.

“I’m pleased with another set of resilient results in the second quarter,” ING chief executive Steven van Rijswijk said in a statement.

“The improving economic environment meant that risk costs were significantly reduced, and expenses are developing in the right direction, which I will continue to monitor closely,” van Rijswijk said.

The bank has 14 million customers after adding another 281,000 in the second quarter.

ING said it would distribute the payouts to investors after September 30.

The European Central Bank had imposed a cap on banks’ rewards to shareholders at the onset of the coronavirus crisis in March 2020, to ensure lenders had enough liquidity to weather the fallout.

The ECB said last month it would end the restrictions in October.

cvo/lth/spm