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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
(Reuters) — Dutch financial services group ING has repaid a further €1.23 billion ($1.69 billion) of aid to the Dutch state, it said on Monday.
The payment takes the total amount returned to the state to €12.5 billion ($17.19 billion), ING said, including €9.3 billion ($12.79 billion) in principal and €3.2 billion ($4.40 billion) in interest.
ING dismantled its once-fashionable banking and insurance model and announced thousands of job cuts and other savings after its €10 billion ($13.75 billion) euro state rescue in 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.
ING shares were upgraded on Monday morning by Goldman Sachs to “buy” from “neutral”. The stock was up 2.7 percent in late morning trading in Amsterdam at €10.27 ($13.12).
The payment was funded by a dividend from ING Bank to ING Group and reduced the bank’s Core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio by approximately 0.4 percentage points.
A final fourth payment of €1.025 billion ($1.41 billion) will be made May 2015, including €683 million ($939.3 million) in principal and €342 million ($470.4 million) in interest and premiums, taking the total amount to €13.5 billion ($18.57 billion).
Once the final debt repayment has been made ING will resume dividend payments, spokesman Frans Middendorff said.