Report of Foreign Issuer Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 (6-k)

--ING's third-quarter net profit missed market expectations for the period, as it reported a profit of EUR788 million from views of EUR1.01 billion

--The Dutch bank also announced it is closing offices located in South America, as well as some in Asia

--ING plans to cut around 1,000 jobs by the end of 2021

By Sabela Ojea

ING Groep NV reported a significant fall in net profit for the third quarter on Thursday, missing views for net profit but beating net interest income expectations, and said the refocusing of its wholesale and retail activities will result in around 1,000 job cuts by the end of 2021.

"In wholesale banking, we will concentrate even more on core clients and simplify our geographical footprint, which will require fewer staff," the Dutch bank said. This includes closing its South American offices, as well as some of the ones located in Asia, it said.

A redundancy provision will be taken in the fourth quarter, ING added.

The lender posted a net profit of 788 million euros ($923.7 million) for the third quarter compared with EUR1.34 billion a year earlier. Net profit was expected to decline to EUR1.01 billion, taken from FactSet and based on three analysts' estimates.

Net interest income fell to EUR3.33 billion from EUR3.53 billion. It was expected to decrease to EUR3.27 billion, also taken from FactSet and based on four analysts' estimates.

The bank said its net interest income decreased as its customer deposits declined due to lower interest margins on both savings and current accounts. "Although the overall lending margin remained stable, net interest income on customer lending declined slightly due to lower average volumes," it said.

ING said its set of results was resilient, with increased fee income and continued operational cost control.

Write to Sabela Ojea at [e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 05, 2020 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

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