The largest Dutch bank, ING Groep (INGA.AS), stated on Thursday that it would be repurchasing up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.65 billion) worth of shares this year. This move came after the firm’s third-quarter net earnings more than quadrupled over the previous year.
Serving over 38 million clients, the bank emphasized that despite the slowdown in global economic development, it is still watchful.
In the last two years, central banks have raised interest rates to combat inflation, which has benefited banks greatly. However, it appears that this cycle of monetary tightening is coming to an end.
“We are conscious of the public discussions on saving rates and, depending on developments in the competitive landscape, our liability margins may reduce somewhat from current levels,” Steven van Rijswijk, our CEO, stated in a
Net interest income (NII), a crucial indicator of loan profits less deposit costs, came in at 4.03 billion euros for the quarter, less than the 4.12 billion euros that a company-compiled consensus predicted.
“NII was negatively impacted by … group Treasury and … financial markets, but both elements were more than offset in Other Income,” according to a report from Jefferies.
The company’s calculated consensus predicted 322 million euros for net increases to loan loss provisions; however, this number was less than 183 million euros, in part because of what Chief Risk Officer Ljiljana Cortan called “successful de-risking from Russia.”
“There is an offshore exposure to Russia of around 1.5 billion. In fact, it’s a two-thirds drop from the previous year,” she stated on a conference call with reporters.
Other European banks, including HSBC, UniCredit, BBVA, and Deutsche Bank, have recently announced share repurchase programs or have planned to begin one shortly. ING started a buyback program worth up to 1.5 billion euros this year.
Between July and September, the bank’s net profit increased by 103% to 1.98 billion euros, above the 1.83 billion euros in the company-compiled consensus.
Comment Template