ING Groep to Buy Back EUR2.5 Billion of Shares to Boost CET1 Ratio — Update

By Ian Walker and Elena Vardon

ING Groep shares rose in morning trade after the Dutch lender said that it plans to buy back up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.68 billion) of shares and reported a first-quarter performance lifted by interest rates.

The bank said on Thursday that its net interest income for the three months ended March 31 was 3.825 billion euros ($4.10 billion). This represents a fall from the EUR4.01 billion it reported for the same quarter the previous year and was It attributed the xx on

Net profit for the quarter was EUR1.58 billion euros compared with EUR1.59 billion for the comparable period a year earlier and ahead of expectations of a EUR1.45 billion result.

ING said that the buyback--which was in line with expectations--will run through to Oct. 29 and aims to bring down its common equity Tier 1 ratio toward its target of around 12.5% by 2025. For the first quarter of 2024, it reported a CET1 ratio--a key measure of balance-sheet strength--of 14.8%, in line with expectations. Ahead of the print, consensus for its 2025 CET1 ratio stood at 13.0%. ING said that the share buybacks will benefit its CET1 ratio by 77 basis points.

Alongside the buyback the bank reported a fall in first-quarter net profit after net interest income dropped, and backed its full-year guidance.

The bank reiterated that it expects fee income to rise by 5% to 10% this year, with cost growth of around 3% and a return on equity of 12%.

Fee income rose 11% compared with the same period last year and 14% from the last quarter, with growth in retail driven by higher fee income for both daily banking and investment products, the bank said.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com and to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

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company-compiled consensus had expected a EUR2.5 billion share buyback

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2024 06:14 ET (10:14 GMT)

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