ING posts Q3 profit, no new split details

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch bancassurer ING Groep on Wednesday posted a third-quarter profit in line with preannounced results and offered no new details on its planned split into separate bank and insurance companies.

ING released preliminary figures on Oct. 26, at the same time that it announced the split and a 7.5 billion euro rights issue.

ING posted a net profit of 499 million euros ($747.5 million), compared with a loss of 478 million euros a year earlier. The underlying net profit at the bank was 264 million euros and the underlying net profit at the insurance side was 514 million euros.

The company cited strong interest income and lower costs at the bank as the primary driver for the quarter, plus some favourable market impacts in the insurance unit.

But it offered nothing new on its split, which is a consequence of negotiations with the European Commission following its receipt of 10 billion euros in state aid last October. By the end of 2013 ING will sell its insurance business, Dutch mortgage operations and U.S. online bank.

Last month ING said it had underlying net profits of about 250 million euros at the bank and 500 million euros at the insurance business, with a group net profit of around 500 million euros for the third quarter.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Hans Peters)

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