Financial group ING posts first-ever loss

ING was one of the healthier financial institutions with relatively manageable losses from the credit crisis.

Dutch financial group ING posted its first-ever quarterly loss on Wednesday as impairments on stocks and bonds, counterparty losses and property writedowns ate into its income.

ING Group NV had projected the loss in October before agreeing to a 10 billion euros ($12.7 billion) cash injection by the Dutch government to shore up its core capital. Those measures will put ING’s core Tier 1 capital ratio at 8 per cent.

Its net loss for the third quarter was 478 million euros, after writedowns totaling 1.5 billion euros. ING posted a profit of 2.3 billion euros a year earlier.

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“Weakening economic conditions will put pressure on results into 2009,” ING Chief Executive Michel Tilmant said in a statement.

A revaluation of structured credit investments linked to mortgages also triggered a 1.6 billion euro drop in ING shareholders’ equity.

ING was one of the healthier financial institutions with relatively manageable losses from the credit crisis, but it decided to take the capital injection to shore up its balance sheet after its share plummeted to a 15 year-low on investor concerns over the impact of the credit crisis.

Its shares have since recovered 54 per cent to just above 8 euros but remain well below levels close to 30 euros seen a year ago.

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