Key Highlights

  • Earnings per share of 0.74 beat the consensus estimate of 0.67, while Revenue of 7.06 billion matched the consensus estimate.
  • Fee income rose 9% and total income grew 6% year over year, with quarterly return on tangible Equity at 16%.
  • Core equity Tier 1 strengthened 30 basis points to 13.3%, supporting a EUR 1.9 billion additional Shareholder distribution.
  • Management targets 2027 return on tangible equity above 16%, with income at least EUR 1 billion above the original target.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) reported third quarter 2026 Earnings Per Share of 0.74 against a consensus estimate of 0.67, and revenue of 7.06 billion in line with the consensus estimate of 7.06 billion. The company figures below are in euros. Chief Executive Officer Steven van Rijswijk said earnings per share rose 17% year over year and the bank delivered a 16% return on tangible equity in the quarter.

Total income increased 6% from a year earlier, with costs growing about 2% over the Trailing Twelve Months and positive operating jaws of more than 4 percentage points. Net core lending rose EUR 11 billion and net core deposits rose EUR 12.1 billion, each equal to about 6% growth on an annualized basis.

Income Mix, Customers and Costs

Fee income grew 9% year over year, with retail banking fees up 10% and Wholesale Banking fees up 9%. Commercial net interest income increased EUR 161 million from the second quarter and was 13% higher than a year earlier, helped by a Liability Margin that improved 6 basis points and a lending margin of 123 basis points. The bank added 259,000 mobile primary customers in the quarter, more than 1.1 million over twelve months, and reached more than 41 million customers in total.

Expenses excluding regulatory costs and incidental items rose 3.6% year over year, mostly from Investment in other retail markets, and restructuring costs were EUR 63 million. Total risk costs were EUR 403 million, including EUR 111 million from an IFRS model update. Net additions to Stage 3 provisions were EUR 239 million, mainly collective provisions in consumer lending.

Capital Return and Outlook Items

The bank generated about 80 basis points of core equity Tier 1 Capital in the quarter, and risk-weighted Assets fell EUR 4.3 billion, including EUR 3 billion of relief from significant risk transfer transactions. The EUR 1.9 billion additional distribution consists of a EUR 1.65 billion share buyback starting immediately and EUR 250 million paid in cash. Capital structurally above 13% is returned to shareholders under the distribution policy, which the company left unchanged.

For 2026, management projects fee income of EUR 5 billion, a year ahead of plan, commercial net interest income in a range of EUR 16.8 billion to EUR 17 billion with the upper end in view, a liability margin near 110 basis points and other income of EUR 2.5 billion to EUR 2.7 billion. For 2027, it now projects return on tangible equity above 16%, operating expenses about EUR 300 million below the original target and total income at least EUR 1 billion above it.

Dates and Figures Worth Watching

The wholesale banking reorganization, which renames the unit corporate and institutional banking, involves around 400 redundancies and a provision of about EUR 175 million in the fourth quarter, with annual savings of about EUR 75 million from 2028. The changes take effect on March 1. The strategy update is scheduled for June 14, 2027, with targets for 2030. The next update on excess capital comes with first quarter 2027 results, and significant risk transfer benefits are targeted at 15 to 20 basis points of core equity Tier 1 for 2026, against 16 basis points realized year to date.