The furore surrounding ABN AMRO’s takeover has not distracted ING Bank from carrying out its well-planned and successful expansion strategy. ING Direct has continued to grow its consumer market share worldwide, contributing to an increase in the bank’s client pool, which is now 18.7 million strong. Further investment in technology will help the bank to grow its direct banking channels.
ING has developed a transformation programme that will allow it to accelerate its growth by leveraging such direct channels with its branch network in Belgium. The bank also intends to roll out its direct banking model into new geographies and has invested in plans to launch ING Direct in Japan.
ING’s strong cash generation and capital discipline have supported organic growth and acquisitions. Abroad, the bank has entered lucrative markets by acquiring Oyak Bank in Turkey, the Latin American pension business of Santander, and Landmark Investment Management in South Korea. In its home market, the merger of the popular Postbank under the ING name will enhance the strength of the bank’s brand and bring eight million customers under one umbrella.
The targeted expansion strategy and careful management resulted in good financial results. Pre-tax profits grew by a small but still healthy 3% and RoE for banking operations was good at 19.4%.
Michel Tilmant, chairman of ING, says: “This award shows that our strategy of delivering on sustainable profitable growth is both recognised and appreciated. We focus on growth by managing our established businesses efficiently, transform our growth engines into sustainable core businesses and invest in green fields to secure future profitability by means of both organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions. We will use our strong distribution reach, high-performance product capabilities and leading brand to help our customers to manage their financial future and create value for shareholders.”
