ING profits drop 30 percent in first quarter

Dutch bank ING recorded a net profit of 1.3 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 1.8 billion euros in net profit the bank made in the same period last year. Excluding once-off windfalls and set backs, the profits dropped 29 percent to 842 million euros, ANP reports. The bank largely attributes the decrease to regulation costs. The new supervisory regime in the banking sector brought nearly 500 million euros in costs during the first quarter, compared to 174 million euros last year. ING expects that these costs will increase with another 300 million euros during 2016, totaling in approximately 960 million euros. ING customers put a net amount of 8.8 billion euros into their ING accounts during the first three months of 2016. And the bank issued 7.1 billion euros in new loans. In the first quarter ING reserved 265 million euros for bad loans, a decrease of nearly 170 million euros compared to the same period last year. The bank increased interest-income with 2 percent. Commissions remained relatively stable.