ING Romania increases net profit by 42%

ING Romania, the local subsidiary of Dutch banking group ING, saw a 42% increase in its net profit last year, to RON 474 million (EUR 105.5 million). The bank’s revenues went up by 29% to EUR 294 million compensating for the 16% increase in operating costs and the 67% increase in risk costs. The higher operating costs were mainly related to investments in the digital sector. ING clients made 21.3 million mobile banking operations, up 147% compared to 2015, while the use of internet banking via desktop only went up by 6% to 21.1 million. Contactless card payments went up fivefold, to 28 million, while total card payments increased by 45% to 69 million. ING reached over 1 million clients at the end of 2016, up 16% compared to end-2015. A third of the clients used ING as their main bank, up 25% year-on-year. The lender also recorded significant increases in the balance sheet. The bank’s loan portfolio went up by 22% to over EUR 3.8 billion, boosting its market share from 6.3% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2016. The lending in local currency lei had the main contribution. It rose by 37% year-on-year to almost EUR 2.6 billion. The loans for individuals increased by more than a third to almost EUR 2 billion. The volume of deposits continued to go up last year, reaching EUR 4.9 billion, up 20% year-on-year. ING Romania’s total assets thus reached EUR 6.42 billion at the end of 2016, up 21% over 2015. editor@romania-insider.com