ING to Pay First Dividend Since Crisis

By Maarten van Tartwijk 

AMSTERDAM-- ING Groep NV said Wednesday that it would pay its first dividend since the global financial crisis of 2008 after the Dutch bank reported a sharp rise in fourth-quarter net profit.

Amsterdam-based ING said it would pay a cash dividend of EUR470 million ($532 million), or EUR0.12 a share, and reiterated its aim for a payout ratio of 40% of annual net profit from 2015 on.

ING was able to restart dividends after repaying the final chunk of state aid it received at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The lender has also nearly completed a radical overhaul that transformed it into a smaller and better capitalized Europe-focused bank.

ING reported fourth-quarter net profit of EUR1.18 billion compared with EUR626 million in the same period a year earlier. Its underlying pretax profit, which excludes the impact of divestments and other special items, fell 13% to EUR783 million, slightly below analyst expectations.

Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at [e-mail]

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