ING profits plummet 80% due to coronavirus crisis

ING bank saw its profits shrink by nearly 80 percent in the second quarter, compared to the year before, according to figures released on Thursday. The bank attributed the massive decrease largely to money set aside to cover bad loans to companies that got into trouble due to the coronavirus crisis.

In the second quarter of this year ING made a profit of 229 million euros, compared to over 1.4 billion euros in profit in the same quarter last year and 670 million euros in the first quarter of 2020. Turnover in the second quarter of this year was about the same as the same quarter last year at 4.67 billion euros.

The biggest part of the decrease in profits is due to over 1.3 billion euros the bank set aside to cover outstanding loans - many companies were facing payment problems due to the coronavirus crisis. ING also had to write off 300 million euros on various assets due to the crisis. This involved acquisitions ING made in the past that now yielded less than expected.