ING posts 2Q2021 net result of €1,459 million
2Q2021 result before tax of €2,065 million; capital position strengthens to 15.7%
• Growth in fee income of 18.3% year-on-year, especially in daily banking and investment products. Net interest income
declined due to liability margin pressure.
• Net release of risk costs following an update of macroeconomic indicators. Expenses remained under control.
• Shareholder distribution of €3,618 million after 30 September 2021.
More customers choose ING as their primary bank; lending decreases
• Primary customer base rose by 281,000 in 2Q2021 to 14.0 million.
• Net core lending growth of €-3.7 billion in 2Q2021 due to repayments; improvement in lending margin. Net core deposits
growth of €4.9 billion.
CEO statement
“I’m pleased with another set of resilient results in the second quarter,” said ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk. “Fee income of €855 million was in line with the strong result in the first quarter, while net interest income and in particular our liability margin remained under pressure. 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.
“I’m encouraged by the growth in primary customers, and we continue to see high demand from retail customers for digital investment products, which complement our savings product offering. An example is ‘Komfort-Anlage’ (‘Comfort Investing’), launched in Germany during the second quarter. ‘Komfort-Anlage’ empowers customers to invest online in one of seven funds that best matches their risk appetite, and features enhanced digital and video interaction capabilities to provide customers with advice when needed.
“In addition to diversifying income, we continued to take steps to future-proof our business and optimise capital allocation by making decisions on where and how we serve customers. We’ve reached an agreement to transfer our retail banking operations in Austria to bank99, the digital banking arm of the national postal service Österreichische Post. And the transfer of our retail customers in the Czech Republic is proceeding smoothly, with around half of customers and 60% of client balances migrated to Raiffeisenbank. We’re also conducting a strategic review of our retail banking business in France. I know these changes cause uncertainty for our colleagues and I’m grateful for their continued commitment.
“The effects of climate change are increasingly apparent, and taking action becomes more urgent by the day. I believe that for climate action to be successful, with the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, a concerted collaborative eff ort is needed from all sectors of society. That’s why ING has committed to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The pathway to net zero brings many opportunities for financing and investing in the necessary transition, and in the first half of 2021 we supported 133 sustainability deals. An example is the US$401 million Infrastructure Asset-Backed Securitised (IABS) issuance by Singapore based Bayfront Infrastructure Management. This was the first public securitisation with a sustainability tranche, for which ING acted as Joint Global Coordinator and Sole Sustainability Structuring Advisor.
“We will distribute €3,618 million after 30 September 2021. We will pay an amount of €0.48 per share in October 2021 and make an additional distribution of €1,744 million related to the amount reserved over 2019. The latter will be in the form of cash and/or a share buyback, subject to relevant approvals.
“With the pandemic continuing to affect life and business, I want to once again thank all ING colleagues, more than 80% of whom are still working from home, as they continue to help customers through these challenging times.”