ING Germany continues success story

• ING-DiBa AG earnings before taxes rise to EUR 1,280 million (2017: EUR 1,269 million)
• Growth in all business areas, especially corporate clients and current accounts
• Strong customer growth continues: 600,000 new customers
• All activities of ING Germany included in the Annual Report for the first time

Frankfurt am Main – ING continued its growth course in Germany and Austria in 2018 and again surpassed the previous year’s result. ING-DiBa AG’s earnings before taxes, which were recorded for the last time for the sake of comparability, rose to EUR 1,280 million in the past fiscal year (2017: EUR 1,269 million).

As of the 2018 financial year, the bank publishes its results as “ING Germany” on the basis of “ING Holding Deutschland”, which includes Interhyp AG, Germany's largest residential mortgage broker, and several other holding companies of ING. Taking this change into account, ING Germany generated pre-tax earnings of EUR 1,322 million in the 2018 financial year.

Customer growth was again strong with 600,000 new customers; adjusted for inactive accounts and expired loans, the number of customers rose by 250,000 in 2018 to a total of 9.3 million.

"Our strategy is paying off: we have consolidated our position as the third-largest bank in terms of customers. The strong development in corporate banking underscores that we are right on track to becoming a leading universal bank in Germany," says Nick Jue, CEO of ING in Germany and Head of Region Germany. “In 2019, we will focus on further expanding the digital offering for our customers and developing business with small and medium-sized enterprises into our third strong area of activity.”

In the retail customer business, the number of current accounts grew significantly again. On the balance sheet date, the bank had 2.5 million current accounts, 375,000 more than in the previous year (2.1 million). The increase of 18 percent shows that ING is becoming more and more important in Germany as a customer’s primary bank and first point of contact for financial matters.

Despite the low interest rate environment, customer deposits on savings and current accounts grew by around four percent in 2018. The total portfolio volume is now approximately EUR 138 billion (2017: EUR 133 billion). The number of savings accounts rose by three percent to 8.2 million (2017: 7.9 million).

The consumer credit area grew by 10 percent in the year under review to a portfolio volume of almost EUR 8.3 billion (2017: EUR 7.5 billion). Mortgage lending was in strong demand, thanks to the interest rate environment and the continuing positive economic situation: ING mortgage lending rose by five percent to almost EUR 73 billion (2017: EUR 69.3 billion). New business commitments exceeded the EUR 10 billion mark and stood at EUR 10.6 billion (2017: EUR 8.7 billion) at the end of the year. Interhyp's brokered mortgage volume amounted to EUR 22 billion (2017: EUR 19.8 billion).

In the securities segment, the number of accounts increased by nine percent to more than 1.3 million in 2018 (2017: 1.2 million). The number of customer orders again exceeded the 10 million mark, and the volume of the securities accounts increased by 4.4 billion euros (adjusted for exchange rate effects) to EUR 41.4 billion (2017: EUR 36.9 billion).

In this segment, the bank plans to gradually expand its consultancy-free approach by adding a digital financial advisor. The intention is to expand the digital offering for customers interested in securities. ING’s cooperation with Scalable Capital has developed very positively: by the end of 2018, customers had invested more than EUR 630 million via the online asset manager.

With an increase of 17 per cent, corporate lending was once again a key growth driver. The credit volume rose to EUR 35.9 billion (2017: EUR 30.7 billion). In 2019, ING will open regional offices in several German cities including Hamburg and Stuttgart. This will allow the bank to be closer to its corporate customers in the most important German metropolitan regions. The bank opened its first regional office in Essen at the end of 2018.

ING’s goal is to continue growing in Germany as steadily and as efficiently as ever. ING-DiBa AG’s cost-income ratio, which was also recorded for the last time for the sake of comparability, remained constant at 44 percent in 2018 (2017: 44 percent) despite investments in digital services and the expansion of Wholesale Banking. Taking Interhyp AG into account, the cost-income ratio of ING Germany was 47 percent (2017: 48 percent).

The bank also intends to accelerate its growth by expanding existing business areas and establishing its Digital SME unit for business with small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, the bank will further expand its own digital services and continue offering an open financial platform for third-party providers.

We are constantly developing solutions and services for our customers that make banking simple and easy to use in everyday life. In the coming months, we will become the first major bank in Germany to offer new customers a completely app-based account opening process.

 - says Nick Jue.

We are also continuing to work on our platform strategy. We want to be the central point of contact for customers in all financial matters. We believe in offering an intuitive, digital customer experience and allowing our customers to also use the products of other providers.

With more than 9 million customers, ING-DiBa AG is Germany’s third-largest bank. Its core retail banking services are mortgages, current accounts, savings, consumer loans and brokerage. The bank can be reached by customers 24/7. ING Wholesale Banking takes care of corporate clients, including large, internationally operating companies. Some 4,000 employees work for ING-DiBa at its offices in Frankfurt (headquarters), Hanover, Nuremberg and Vienna.

Disclaimer:
All the information about ING Germany provided here is based on the preliminary IFRS-consolidated financial statements of ING Holding Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, which are yet to be audited. Deviations from the information published by ING Group N.V. about the German region are mainly the result of ING Group’s internal consolidation. Forecasts or expectations expressed in this publication entail uncertainties. The announcement reflects the status at the time of publication. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date on which they are made. We assume no obligation to update such statements in light of new information or future events.