ING posts 1Q2026 net result of €1,556 million, driven by continued growth in customer balances and fee income

ING posts 1Q2026 net result of €1,556 million, driven by continued growth in customer balances and fee income

Profit before tax of €2,258 million, up 6% year-on-year and 8% quarter-on-quarter
Further increase in commercial net interest income, supported by sustained growth in customer balances and a higher liability margin
Strong fee income growth in both Retail and Wholesale Banking, up 13% year-on-year
Operating expenses decline compared with the fourth quarter and are broadly stable year-on-year
Four-quarter rolling average return on tangible equity of 13.9%; CET1 ratio of 13.0%
Announcement of a €1.0 billion share buyback
 
CEO statement
“The first quarter of 2026 unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, marked by energy-security risks in the Middle East and the direct and indirect effects across the economies in which we operate. We continue to support our customers and clients in navigating these circumstances,” said Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING Group. “Our strong performance demonstrates the resilience of our business. We worked closely with our customers and clients on financing, transactions and risk management, while executing our strategy of accelerating growth, increasing impact and delivering value. Based on current assumptions and scenarios, we’re on track to achieve our upgraded outlook as communicated during our 2025 full-year results.

 

“Our mobile primary customer base has increased by 125,000, particularly supported by growth in Germany, Poland and Spain, as we continue to do more business with more customers. The number of active investment product customers has increased by 116,000, with strong growth in Germany.

 

“Total income has risen 3% and our net result has increased 7% year-on-year, supported by strong commercial net interest income and a 13% year-on-year increase in fee income. This was mainly driven by our growing customer base and higher customer trading activity in Retail Banking, and strong deal flow in Wholesale Banking, especially in Lending, Trade Finance Services and Corporate Finance.

 

“Lending volumes in Retail Banking have grown by €9.4 billion, of which €5.9 billion in mortgages, driven by strong production in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Australia as demand for mortgages remained solid. Business Banking lending has grown by €2.6 billion as we continue to expand our franchise. In Private Banking & Wealth Management, assets under management and e-brokerage have increased to €281 billion, up 15% year-on-year. Retail deposits have grown by €4.3 billion due to inflows in savings and deposits, while at the same time customers continued to move money into investment products.

 

“In Wholesale Banking, lending has grown by €5.6 billion, driven by a strong net inflow in Lending. Wholesale Banking deposits have grown by €2.9 billion, reflecting higher balances in Payments & Cash Management. Our sustainable volume mobilised has increased to €34 billion, 11% higher than in the same period last year as we continue to support our clients in their sustainable transitions.

 

“Expenses excluding regulatory costs declined 3% versus the previous quarter while showing only a moderate increase year-on-year, as we maintain a disciplined approach to managing our cost structure. Risk costs remained below the through-the-cycle-average at 19 basis points, as a prudent management overlay to address the possible economic effects of the war in the Middle East was offset by repayments. The four-quarter rolling average return on tangible equity rose to 13.9% and our CET1 ratio was 13.0%, which includes the impact of an updated dividend reserving approach.

 

“We announce a share buyback programme of €1.0 billion as we continue to return capital in excess of our ~13% target to our shareholders. Operating at the right level of capital is in the best interest of all our stakeholders, including our customers and the economies where we do business.

 

“We are confident in our ability to serve our customers and clients from a position of strength as we navigate the ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties. We thank our employees across the world who have contributed to our strong performance this quarter.”

 
Further information
All publications related to ING’s 1Q 2026 results can be found at the quarterly results page on ING.com. For more on investor information, go to the Investor Overview on ING.com.
A short ING ON AIR video with CEO Steven van Rijswijk discussing our 1Q 2026 results is available on Youtube.
For further information on ING, please visit www.ING.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroom or via the @ING_news feed on X. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr.
 
Investor conference call and webcast
Steven van Rijswijk (CEO), Ida Lerner (CRO) and Andrea Cesaroni (Head of Risk Management) will discuss the results in an Investor conference call on 30 April 2026 at 9:00 a.m. CET. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 708 5074 (NL), or +44 330 551 0202 (UK) (registration required via invitation) and via live audio webcast at www.ing.com.
 
Investor enquiries
E: investor.relations@ing.com

Press enquiries
T: +31 20 576 5000
E: media.relations@ing.com

 
ING Profile
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.

 

ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

 

ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI has been upgraded from ‘AA’ to ‘AAA’ in October 2025. As of June 2025, in Sustainalytics’ view, ING’s management of ESG material risk is ‘Strong’ with an ESG risk rating of 18.0 (low risk). ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers. Here are some examples: Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.

 

Important legal information
Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014 (‘Market Abuse Regulation’).

 

ING Group’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (‘IFRS- EU’). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2025 ING Group consolidated financial statements. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

 

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions and customer behaviour, in particular economic conditions in ING’s core markets, including changes affecting currency exchange rates and the regional and global economic impact of the invasion of Russia into Ukraine and related international response measures (2) changes affecting interest rate levels (3) any default of a major market participant and related market disruption (4) changes in performance of financial markets, including in Europe and developing markets (5) fiscal uncertainty in Europe and the United States (6) discontinuation of or changes in ‘benchmark’ indices (7) inflation and deflation in our principal markets (8) changes in conditions in the credit and capital markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness (9) failures of banks falling under the scope of state compensation schemes (10) noncompliance with or changes in laws and regulations, including those concerning financial services, financial economic crimes and tax laws, and the interpretation and application thereof (11) geopolitical risks, political instabilities and policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, including in connection with the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, other existing or emerging military conflicts, the risk of further military escalation, geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions and the related international response measures (12) legal and regulatory risks in certain countries with less developed legal and regulatory frameworks (13) prudential supervision and regulations, including in relation to stress tests and regulatory restrictions on dividends and distributions (also among members of the group) (14) ING’s ability to meet minimum capital and other prudential regulatory requirements (15) changes in regulation of US commodities and derivatives businesses of ING and its customers (16) application of bank recovery and resolution regimes, including write down and conversion powers in relation to our securities (17) outcome of current and future litigation, enforcement proceedings, investigations or other regulatory actions, including claims by customers or stakeholders who feel misled or treated unfairly, and other conduct issues (18) changes in tax laws and regulations and risks of non-compliance or investigation in connection with tax laws, including FATCA (19) operational and IT risks, such as system disruptions or failures, breaches of security, cyberattacks, human error, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including in respect of third parties with which we do business and including any risks as a result of incomplete, inaccurate, or otherwise flawed outputs from the algorithms and data sets utilized in artificial intelligence (20) risks and challenges related to cybercrime including the effects of cyberattacks and changes in legislation and regulation related to cybersecurity and data privacy, including such risks and challenges as a consequence of the use of emerging technologies, such as advanced forms of artificial intelligence and quantum computing (21) changes in general competitive factors, including ability to increase or maintain market share (22) inability to protect our intellectual property and infringement claims by third parties (23) inability of counterparties to meet financial obligations or ability to enforce rights against such counterparties (24) changes in credit ratings (25) business, operational, regulatory, reputation, transition and other risks and challenges in connection with climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion and other ESG-related matters, including data gathering and reporting and also including managing the conflicting laws and requirements of governments, regulators and authorities with respect to these topics (26) inability to attract and retain key personnel (27) future liabilities under defined benefit retirement plans (28) failure to manage business risks, including in connection with use of models, use of derivatives, or maintaining appropriate policies and guidelines (29) changes in capital and credit markets, including interbank funding, as well as customer deposits, which provide the liquidity and capital required to fund our operations, and (30) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. (including the Risk Factors contained therein) and ING’s more recent disclosures, including press releases, which are available on www.ING.com.

 

This document may contain ESG-related material that has been prepared by ING on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other third-party sources believed to be reliable. ING has not sought to independently verify information obtained from public and third-party sources and makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness, reasonableness or reliability of such information. This document may also discuss one or more specific transactions and/or contain general statements about ING’s ESG approach. The approach and criteria referred to in this document are intended to be applied in accordance with applicable law. Due to the fact that there may be different or even conflicting laws, the approach, criteria or the application thereof, could be different. 

 

Materiality, as used in the context of ESG, is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or as defined for Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) reporting purposes. Any issues identified as material for purposes of ESG in this document are therefore not necessarily material as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or for SEC reporting purposes. In addition, there is currently no single, globally recognized set of accepted definitions in assessing whether activities are “green” or “sustainable.” Without limiting any of the statements contained herein, we make no representation or warranty as to whether any of our securities constitutes a green or sustainable security or conforms to present or future investor expectations or objectives for green or sustainable investing. For information on characteristics of a security, use of proceeds, a description of applicable project(s) and/or any other relevant information, please reference the offering documents for such security. 

 

This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this document. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the publication of this document, or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING’s control. 

 

Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. 

 

This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.

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