• Published on 16 February 2021
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ING posts 4Q2020 net result of $883 million, FY2020 net result of $3.018 billion

A growing number of customers choose ING as their primary bank

• Primary customer base rose by 578,000 in FY2020 to 13.9 million; total retail customer base reached 39.3 million.
• The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns were visible in a softening of lending demand, which affected net core lending, and in an increase in net customer deposits. Net core lending fell by $1.09 billion (EUR 0.9 billion) in 4Q2020 and by $3.04 billion  (EUR 2.5 billion) in 2020; net customer deposits grew by $9.48 billion (EUR 7.8 billion) in 4Q2020 and by $50.29 billion (EUR 41.4 billion) in 2020.

4Q2020 result before tax of €1,046 million; full-year 2020 result before tax of €3,809 million

• Net interest income was up on 3Q2020, impact compared to 4Q2019 was mainly due to liability margin pressure and lower lending volumes; diversified fee income showed healthy growth, compensating some of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 4Q2020 had lower risk costs and included some incidental costs, mainly due to restructuring and related impairments.
• Our capital position strengthened further to 15.5%. In alignment with the ECB recommendation on distribution, we propose to pay a cash dividend of $0.15 (EUR 0.12) per share as interim after 4Q2020 results with intended further distributions after 30 September 2021 subject to prevailing ECB recommendations.

CEO statement

“I’m proud of ING’s resilient results over 2020 and that more people continued to choose us as their primary bank, even as the year was defined by the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 and its impact on our customers, business clients and society,” said CEO Steven van Rijswijk. “This shows that our mobile- and digital-first capabilities, coupled with our strong network, are delivering value to customers and meeting their needs.

“We continue to see a healthy demand for mortgages. We also observed people spending less in lockdown, which resulted in an increase in savings. The demand for business and consumer loans has declined, given the lower economic activity and increased uncertainty. Considerably more customers are choosing ING as their bank for investment products, which has resulted in healthy growth of fee and commission income. Risk costs, though higher for the full year, dropped 51% in the fourth quarter compared to the year-earlier period, while operational expenses remained under control. Our capital position strengthened further to 15.5% and we propose a dividend payout in line with recommendations by the European Central Bank.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been talking to thousands of customers a week and have granted $23.57 billion (EUR 19.4 billion) in payment holidays. We’ve been making sure employees are supported technically, physically and mentally to work from home, and we continued providing community support by making donations and funding social projects.

“In addition to providing payment relief, we’re also working to support the economy where needed. For example, we joined the European Investment Bank to lend nearly €800 million on favourable terms to Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises that are affected by the economic impact of Covid-19.

“In 2021, we’ll continue to make sure that our bank is safe, secure and compliant. We’ll continue to work on cost efficiency and providing a good return for our shareholders. We’ll keep decisively executing our strategy so we continue to build on our position as a digital leader in banking. Our customers continue to be our priority, giving them a differentiating experience while supporting them where we can to weather the effects of the pandemic on their lives, their finances and their businesses.”

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker