ING ING Groep NV

AMSTERDAM—ING Groep NV on Monday became the latest European lender to announce a new round of layoffs and restructuring as it seeks to slash costs and invest in digital services.

The Netherlands' largest bank by assets said it would scrap around 7,000 jobs in the next couple of years in an attempt to reduce annual costs by €900 million ($1.01 billion) by 2021. The cuts represent around 13% of the bank's global workforce and will primarily affect employees in Belgium and the Netherlands, ING said.

The plans were unveiled as part of a wider overhaul in which ING aims to converge its banking operations in Europe toward one digital platform. It said it would invest €800 million to improve its digital services.

The measures came along with new financial targets for 2020 that were more cautious than the previous ones.

ING reiterated its target of achieving a core capital ratio of more than 12.5% and a leverage ratio of more than 4%. But it said it would not update its target for a return on equity, a key measure of profitability, due to "continuing regulatory uncertainty." The bank currently targets a return of 10% to 13%.

Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 03, 2016 03:35 ET (07:35 GMT)

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