AMSTERDAM-- ING Groep NV said Monday that it will start paying
dividends again in 2015 as the bailed out Dutch bank seeks to move
on from years of restructuring prompted by the financial
crisis.
Ahead of an investor day in Amsterdam, ING said it would target
a dividend payout ratio of at least 40% after it fully repays a
government bailout.
It would be ING's first dividend payment since it came close to
collapsing in the 2008 financial crisis and needed government
support to stay afloat.
ING is about to complete a five-year restructuring plan imposed
on it by European Union antitrust regulators as a condition of its
government bailout. The Dutch bank has sold off dozens of assets in
recent years and is currently readying its European insurance
business for an initial public offering.
"Now that we are in the end stage of the restructuring, with our
divestment program and repayment of the Dutch state almost
complete, we are proud to be in a position to look ahead to the
future," said Chief Executive Ralph Hamers, who took the helm at
ING in October.
ING said it aims to grow lending by an annual 4% in the period
up to 2017, expand its interest margin to between 150 and 155 basis
points, and deliver a cost-income ratio of 50% to 53%. That should
lead to a return on equity, a key measure of a bank's
profitability, of 10% to 13%, it said.
The goals were broadly in line with targets that ING announced
at a previous investor day in 2012.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com
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