ING a cair 5%
ING Profit Misses Estimates After Insurance Charge
By Maud van Gaal - Feb 9, 2012 6:40 AM GMT
The ING Groep NV headquarter's stand in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photographer: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg
ING Groep NV (INGA), the biggest Dutch financial-services company, posted fourth-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates after reporting a hedging loss and taking a charge on its U.S. insurance business.
Net income rose to 1.19 billion euros ($1.58 billion) from 130 million euros a year earlier, the Amsterdam-based firm said today in a statement. That missed the average 1.89 billion-euro estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Earnings included 1.29 billion euros of gains from the sale of assets.
ING is seeking to sell its insurance unit before a European Union deadline at the end of 2013 and repay state aid amid the region’s debt crisis and tougher capital requirements. Chief Executive Officer Jan Hommen may consider selling bank assets to help raise the 3 billion euros still owed the Dutch state as the firm last month said it may be more difficult to meet its goal of completing repayment this year.
“The economic environment became more challenging in the fourth quarter of 2011,” Hommen said in the statement. “Our insurance results were severely impacted by the update to policyholder behavior assumptions on the U.S. closed block.”
ING took a charge of 1.1 billion euros before tax as lower interest rates and stock markets hurt a U.S. annuity business the firm is winding down. The firm in December updated its assumptions to reflect market conditions and the behavior of about 500,000 annuity holders who are retaining their contracts for longer than expected.
The firm also had a loss of 348 million euros on hedges aimed to protect regulatory capital in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and the U.S.
ING posted a loss, excluding divestments and one-time items, of 516 million euros in the fourth quarter compared with a profit of 252 million euros a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maud van Gaal in Amsterdam at
mvangaal@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at
fconnelly@bloomberg.net