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’ING, enhanced but not necessarily improved
Netherlands-based ING has followed in the footsteps of US and UK counterparts and returned to profitability in the second quarter, posting a net profit of €71m on Wednesday, down from €1.92bn a year earlier.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- ING posts Q2 net profit of €229m - statement.
- Corporate: BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Balfour Beatty, Smurfit Kappa, SAS, Tui, E.on, Nestle.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Credit Suisse posts Q2 net income of CHF 1.6bn — statement.
- ING seeking buyers for private banking unit — Wall Street Journal.
- Berkshire Hathaway reduces stake in Moody’s by 17 per cent — Bloomberg.
ING posts third consecutive loss
ING, the Dutch banking and insurance group, reported its third consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday, hit by unexpected insurance losses and rising loan loss provisions in banking. The €793m ($1.1bn) quarterly net loss,
ING urges staff to return bonuses
ING, the Dutch banking and insurance group, made a “moral appeal” on Monday to its senior managers to return their bonuses for 2008, as the Dutch authorities looked to curtail pay at companies receiving state support.
Companies cut 76,000 jobs in a day
Corporate bellwethers in the US and Europe slashed more than 76,000 jobs from their payrolls on Monday. US corporate groups such as Caterpillar, General Motors, Sprint Nextel, Texas Instruments, and Home Depot led the retreat,
Job cuts – the details
Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, said it would cut 20,000 jobs as it reported an annual fall of more than 32% in Q4 profits – a month after slashing executive salaries and jobs at large plants.
The ING blueprint
As officials at HM Treasury burn the midnight oil on the Asset Protection Scheme, the centrepiece of last week’s Bank Rescue Plan (part II), the Dutch government has come up with a plan to deal with some of the toxic assets festering in its banking system.
Payroll losses: heading for a million?
693,000?
Pah!
The latest ADP payroll figures (for December – just out) are certainly grim, and they very much confirm that the US economy is still heading on a steep downward course.
The official number,
ING takes €10bn injection from Dutch state
ING has accepted a €10bn capital injection from the Dutch government to shore up its core capital following a slump in its share price and the revelation that it would make its first quarterly loss. The government will buy a new class of securities that count towards ING’s core Tier 1 capital but have no voting rights and are not dilutive for ordinary shareholders,
Snap news
The latest on Wednesday,
- ING reports Q2 profit fall of 25%, but beats analysts expectations – statement
- SPG media group board rejects putative takeover approach – statement
- Dawnay Day
ING bids for German mortgage broker
ING Direct, the online banking arm of ING, on Monday offered to buy InterHyp, a German direct mortgage broker, for €64 a share, or an equity value of €416m ($645m), signalling confidence in the German residential mortgage sector.
Insurance division places drag on ING
ING, the Dutch financial group, on Wednesday reported a sharp drop in Q1 net profit reflecting lower investment income at its insurance arm due to the turmoil in financial markets. Net profit dropped 19% to €1.54bn ($2.3bn),
Bank of Beijing buys into rival
Mid-sized Chinese lender Bank of Beijing said Monday it had agreed to pay 127.5m ($18.2m) for a 19.99% stake in smaller Langfang City Commercial Bank, reports Reuters. Bank of Beijing, in which Dutch group ING holds a minority stake,
ING suspends NZ fund withdrawals
The New Zealand arm of Dutch financial group ING said Wednesday it was suspending withdrawals from two investment funds worth NZ$521m ($413m) because of the global credit market turmoil, reports Reuters.
ING escapes worst of subprime hits
ING, the Dutch financial group, emerged relatively unharmed on Wednesday from the latest round of writedowns by big banks exposed to risky US assets, reporting €194m ($285m) in Q4 pre-tax losses related to the credit and liquidity crisis.
ING to target Indian wealth management
ING is looking to increase its Indian banking unit by 50 branches this year as it seeks to expand into the country’s financial and wealth management sectors. ING Vysya Bank, 44 per cent owned by the Netherlands-based financial services group,
ING results buoyed by sale of ABN stake
ING, the Dutch financial institution, on Wednesday posted strong Q2 profits and reassured investors that its risk management was water-tight, saying it expected “no material impact” from the US subprime mortgage crisis and turbulent debt markets.
Weekend catch-up: RBS/Hilton, Pru, ING
In case you missed it….
RBS poised for £1.1bn Hilton sale
Royal Bank of Scotland is engaged in a £3.7bn sell-off of UK real estate which could be seen as a call on the market, including the planned sale of a £1.1bn portfolio of mainly Hilton hotels to Jeremy Robson,
ING in $2.7bn deal to enter Turkey
ING, the Dutch banking and insurance group, on Tuesday moved into the Turkish banking sector with the $2.67bn cash acquisition of Oyak Bank and said it would invest to rapidly extend market share by opening branches and expanding internet banking.
ING is latest bank to go to Turkey
The scramble to get a piece of Turkey’s banking market continues – or, in fact, might even be reaching its conclusion.
ING’s deal to take over Oyak Bank for $2.7bn in cash takes out one of the final attractive buys into the Turkish market,
Dutch bank merger speculation swirls — now ING, Fortis in the frame
The permutations are endless and, as far as the markets are concerned, every Dutch/Belgian bank is now in play. The leading names in the frame, in descending order of market cap, are ING (€71bn), ABN Amro (€60bn),
ING hires for infrastructure fund
ING has hired two of the pioneers from the UK’s private finance initiative market to advise on a £1bn infrastructure fund to be launched next month. The appointment of Andy Friend, former chief executive of John Laing,
ING faces FSA fine for failures at former stockbroker
ING, the Dutch bank, is to be fined more than £500,000 by the Financial Services Authority this week for failures in systems and controls at Williams de Broe, its former stockbroking arm. ING announced a £56m hole in the accounts of its former UK stockbroking arm in 2005 following an internal investigation.