ING GROEP : records 2Q14 underlying net profit of EUR 1,181 million

ING Group 2Q14 underlying net profit of EUR 1,181 million from EUR 901 million in 2Q13 and EUR 988 million in 1Q14
-	2Q14 net result EUR 1,067 million, or EUR 0.28 per share, including special items, discontinued operations and divestments
-	Given ING's priority to repay the Dutch State, an interim dividend on common shares will not be paid in 2014
Bank 2Q14 underlying result before tax of EUR 1,278 million, up 11.4% from 2Q13 and 8.7% higher than 1Q14
-	2Q14 results reflect solid income despite adverse CVA/DVA impacts and deconsolidation of Vysya; risk costs declined further
-	Strong customer focus generated EUR 7.4 billion in net lending and attracted EUR 7.4 billion of net funds entrusted
-	Capital position further strengthened with a fully-loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio of 10.5% as of 30 June 2014
NN Group 2Q14 result before tax of EUR 310 million, up from EUR 113 million in 2Q13 and EUR -372 million in 1Q14
-	2Q14 operating result ongoing business of EUR 249 million; 2Q14 underlying result before tax improved to EUR 337 million
ING Group has substantially completed its repositioning as a bank
-	NN Group successfully listed on Euronext Amsterdam in early July; ING Group stake in NN Group reduced to 68.1%
-	EUR 8.1 billion market values of ING's stakes in Voya and NN Group comfortably exceed ING's EUR 2.4 billion pro-forma core debt
-	Remaining 10% stake in SulAmérica sold in 2Q14, completing the divestment of ING Group's holding
-	ING Group reclassified into the Banks subsector in 2Q14 by ICB, one of the world's leading classification benchmarks

CEO STATEMENT

"The successful IPO of NN Group in early July was a pivotal moment for ING Group," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. "This step represents the final major transaction in our restructuring and in the repositioning of ING as a leading European bank. It has unlocked significant financial flexibility for the Group, with the EUR 8.1 billion combined market values of our remaining stakes in NN Group and Voya Financial, Inc. comfortably exceeding the pro-forma Group core debt of EUR 2.4 billion."

"ING Group's second-quarter financial performance was strong, with an underlying net result of EUR 1,181 million that was primarily attributable to ING Bank. The Bank's quarterly underlying result before tax was EUR 1,278 million, up 11.4% year-on-year and 8.7% sequentially. The improvement compared with both prior quarters mainly reflects solid income generation, despite the impact of negative CVA/DVA adjustments and the deconsolidation of ING Vysya Bank, and a further decline in risk costs. ING Bank's underlying return on IFRS-EU equity rose to 10.7% for the first half of 2014, which is within the Ambition 2017 target-range for return on IFRSEU equity of 10-13%. ING Bank's capitalisation strengthened further, leading to a fully-loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio of 10.5% at the end of June."

"Our unwavering commitment to our customers contributed to robust business growth during the quarter, with ING Bank extending EUR 7.4 billion of net lending and attracting EUR 7.4 billion of net funds entrusted. During the first six months of 2014, ING Bank gained over half a million new individual customers, demonstrating the strength of our franchise and the attractiveness of our customer proposition. In May, ING Direct Spain celebrated its 15th anniversary and recently welcomed its three-millionth customer. We are grateful that our customers choose to do business with us and we remain committed to supporting their financial needs anytime, anywhere, and making the experience of banking with us truly differentiating. I am convinced that our Chief Innovation Officer will drive our strategic innovation agenda and think beyond traditional banking to serve our customers' changing needs."

"The 2 July listing of NN Group marked the official beginning of the company's standalone future. We congratulate NN Group on this milestone and wish CEO Lard Friese and his team every success. For the second quarter of 2014, ING continued to consolidate 100% of NN Group in our results. The underlying result before tax of NN Group improved to EUR 337 million from EUR 101 million in the second quarter of 2013 and EUR 210 million in the previous quarter. As a result of the IPO, ING Group's stake in NN Group was reduced to 68.1%; this change will be reflected in our third-quarter shareholders' equity."

"We are very proud of the progress that we have made with the restructuring over the past several years, which has brought ING Group well into the end stage of our transformation. We are moving forward as a stronger, simpler and more sustainable company. I am confident that we are well placed to achieve the strategic priorities of ING Bank while continuing to serve our customers and the communities in which we operate to the best of our ability."

ING Group key figures
	2Q2014	2Q20131	Change	1Q2014	Change	1H2014	1H20131	Change
Profit and loss data (in EUR million)
Underlying result before tax	1,278	1,147	11.4%	1,176	8.7%	2,454	2,316	6.0%
Operating result ongoing business NN Group	249	268	-7.1%	274	-9.1%	522	438	19.2%
Non-operating items ongoing business NN Group	10	-71		-28		-18	-56
Japan Closed Block VA	79	-97		-36		43	65	-33.8%
Underlying result before tax Insurance Other	5	-7		-2		3	88	-96.6%
Underlying result before tax ING  Group	1,620	1,241	30.6%	1,384	17.1%	3,004	2,852	5.3%
Underlying net result ING Group	1,181	901	31.1%	988	19.5%	2,169	2,071	4.7%
Net gains/losses on divestments	-3	-16		-1,754		-1,767	923
Net result from divested units							-38
Net result from discontinued operations Insurance/IM Asia	2	65		5		7	131
Net result from discontinued operations Voya Financial	22	-23		53		75	-218
Special items	-135	-33		-1,200		-1,335	-79
Net result	1,067	895	19.2%	-1,917		-851	2,791	-130.5%
Net result per share (in EUR)2	0.28	0.23	21.7%	-0.50		-0.22	0.73	-130.1%
Capital ratios (end of period)
Shareholders' equity (in EUR billion)				45	6.8%	48	50	-2.3%
ING Group debt/equity ratio				7.3%		8.6%	7.2%
Bank common equity Tier 1 ratio phased in				10.0%		10.8%	n.a.
Bank common equity Tier 1 ratio fully-loaded				10.1%		10.5%	n.a.
NN Group IGD Solvency I ratio3				245%		272%	255%
Other data (end of period)
Underlying return on equity based on IFRS-EU equity4	10.1%	7.0%		8.7%		9.4%	7.9%
Employees (FTEs, end of period, adjusted for divestments)				75,606	-14.5%	64,649	76,589	-15.6%

1 The figures of this period have been restated to reflect the change in accounting policy, i.e. the move towards fair value accounting for Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefits for life in  the Japan Closed Block VA as of 1 January 2014

2 Result per share differs from IFRS earnings per share in respect of attributions to the core Tier 1 securities.

3 The 30 June 2014 capital ratios are not final until filed with the regulators 4 Annualised underlying net result divided by average IFRS-EU shareholders'equity.

Note: underlying figures and Operating results are non-GAAP measures. These are derived from figures according to IFRS-EU by excluding impact from divestments,  discontinued operations and special items and, for Operating results only, gains/losses and impairments, revaluations and market & other impacts.

Investor conference call, media conference call and webcasts

Ralph Hamers, Patrick Flynn and Wilfred Nagel will discuss the results in an analyst and investor conference call on 6 August 2014 at 9:00 a.m. CET. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at [phone] (NL), [phone] (UK) or [phone] (US) and via live audio webcast at www.ing.com.: http://www.ing.com/

Ralph Hamers, Patrick Flynn and Wilfred Nagel will also discuss the results in a press conference call on 6 August 2014 at 11:00 a.m. CET. Journalists can join the conference call via the Q&A-mode at [phone] (NL) or [phone] (UK) and via live audio webcast at www.ing.com: http://www.ing.com/.

Investor enquiries

T: [phone]

E: [e-mail]: mailto:[e-mail]

Press enquiries

T: [phone]

E: [e-mail]: mailto:[e-mail]

Additional information is available in the following documents which can be downloaded from around 7:00 am CET at www.ing.com/qr: http://www.ing.com/qr:
-	ING Group Results Full Press Release in PDF
-	ING Group Analyst Presentation
-	ING Group Quarterly Report
-	ING Group Historical Trend Data
-	ING Group Condensed consolidated interim financial information for the period ended 30 June 2014
-	ING Bank Condensed consolidated interim financial information for the period ended 30 June 2014
-	ing.world, ING Group's online magazine, for anyone who is interested in ING

Information for editors

A video interview with Ralph Hamers is available at www.ing.com: http://www.ing.com/ and at www.youtube.com/ING: http://www.youtube.com/ING. Footage (B-roll) of ING and quotes from the interview can be downloaded via www.videobankonline.com: http://www.videobankonline.com/, or requested by emailing [e-mail]: mailto:[e-mail]. The ING Group 2Q2014 Analyst Presentation is also available at www.slideshare.net/ING: http://www.slideshare.net/ING. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at www.flickr.com/photos/inggroup: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inggroup.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION

ING Group's Annual Accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('IFRS-EU').

In preparing the financial information in this document, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2Q2014 ING Group Interim Accounts. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of ING's restructuring plan to separate banking and insurance operations, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit-ratings, (18) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Risk Factors section contained in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and, ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.  This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities of NN Group have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

Full ING Group 2Q2014 results press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/130668/R/1846709/643802.pdf

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The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: ING Group via Globenewswire

HUG#1846709