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ING to sell up to ?8bn of assets
By Michael Steen in Amsterdam
Published: April 9 2009 09:24 | Last updated: April 9 2009 10:42
ING, the Dutch financial group that has twice turned to the government for support in the financial crisis, unveiled a “back to basics” strategy on Thursday that will see it divest operations worth up to ?8bn and focus its lending activities on Europe.
The plan follows a review of the business by Jan Hommen, the new chief executive. Mr Hommen took over from Michel Tilmant at the end of January after the group revealed fresh losses and turned to the state for guarantees on a portfolio of risky assets.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
ING statement - Apr-09
In depth: European banks - Jan-26
ING urges top staff to return bonuses - Mar-23
ING said on Thursday it would sell 10 to 15 businesses “as market conditions permit” over the next few years to exit markets where it had no clear outlook or where it felt market leadership consumed a disproportionate amount of capital.
It will also operate an integrated balance sheet for its banking businesses and, in a departure from its bancassurance model, run the insurance business separately, which is to focus on life insurance and retirement services.
The disposals, expected to generate between ?6bn and ?8bn, will free up ?4bn in capital, ING said. The plans include ?2bn-3bn in disposals that have already been announced, including the sale of its 70 per cent stake in ING Canada last month for ?1.4bn.
Shares in the Dutch group rose sharply, trading 8.5 per cent higher at ?5.71 by mid-morning.
“We are taking ING back to basics on all levels,” Mr Hommen, a former chief financial officer at Philips, said in a statement. “Our governance model will be adapted to our strategy with rigorous business performance reviews and reinforced accountability.”
It was the Dutch group’s expansion into online and telephone retail banking in foreign markets through its ING Direct brand that became an unexpected source of weakness when the credit crisis hit.
The group had chosen to set itself up in the US as a “thrift” or savings association that must invest a large part of its assets in mortgages. That requirement led it to invest in so-called Alt-A mortgage-backed securities, a class of assets seen as less risky than subprime but one that fell sharply in value once the credit crunch started last summer.
The government agreed to take on the risk for 80 per cent of ING’s ?27.7bn portfolio of Alt-A securities in January, a move that followed a ?10bn capital injection in October.
While the group has now ditched plans to expand ING Direct to Japan, it said the business “will continue to build its strong position”.
Mr Hommen said he might sell one of the ING Direct units, but ruled out disposing of the German or French businesses. Asked about ING Direct in the UK, which made a loss last year, he said: “ING Direct in the UK is making a remarkable turnaround and doing quite well this year.”
A retail banking operation set up in Ukraine last year is to be unwound, while ING’s commercial bank will focus on Benelux and Central Europe. In the US, its insurance business will undergo a “fundamental shift in risk profile” as part of a global focus on life insurance and retirement services. ING’s investment management operations will be merged into a global unit and will include its real estate investment management.
The group also said its insurance activities in China and Japan — both of which posted losses last year — were under review.
Mr Hommen also said the group’s first quarter results were “significantly better” than the ?3.7bn loss booked in the fourth quarter but did not say whether ING had made another loss.
