ING's Q1 2025 Results Highlight Resilience and Strategic Momentum

Amsterdam-based banking giant ing Group delivered a robust performance in the first quarter of 2025, reporting a net profit of €1,455 million amid macroeconomic headwinds. The results underscore the bank’s ability to capitalize on customer growth, fee income diversification, and sustainable finance initiatives, while maintaining disciplined risk management.

Deposit Growth Surges, Fueling Liquidity
ING’s core deposit portfolio expanded by €22.6 billion in Q1 2025, marking a 13% annualized growth rate—a significant acceleration from the €13.5 billion deposit growth recorded in Q1 2024. This momentum reflects strong demand for ING’s retail and commercial banking services, with Germany and Poland again serving as key growth markets. By the end of March 2025, total customer deposits reached €733.7 billion, up from €691.7 billion in Q4 2024, bolstering the bank’s liquidity buffer.

Ask Aime: What's driving ING Group's robust financial performance in Q1 2025?

While the CET1 capital ratio dipped to 13.6% in Q4 2024 due to shareholder distributions, the bank’s focus on capital discipline and stable risk costs (below the through-the-cycle average) suggests the metric remains within regulatory comfort zones.

Ask Aime: What's driving ING's growth surge?

Fee Income Growth Remains a Key Driver
Fee income rose to €1,094 million in Q1 2025, a 10% year-on-year increase compared to €998 million in Q1 2024. This growth was broad-based:
- Retail Banking: Contributions from daily banking fees, investment products, and package fees, alongside record assets under management (AUM), continued to drive results.
- Wholesale Banking: Strong performance in Global Capital Markets, fueled by higher volumes of corporate bond placements and equity issuance deals, offset softness in some lending segments.

The 10% growth rate aligns with ING’s long-term strategy to reduce reliance on net interest income (NII) volatility by expanding fee-based revenue streams.

Customer Expansion and Sustainability Progress
ING added 434,000 mobile primary customers in Q4 2024, contributing to a total of 14.4 million mobile primary customers by year-end 2024. While Q1 2025 customer additions are not yet disclosed, the bank’s digital-first strategy and sustainable finance offerings—such as green mortgages and corporate sustainability-linked loans—position it to attract environmentally conscious clients.

Sustainable finance volumes reached €130 billion in 2024, up from €115 billion in 2023, with over 1,600 wholesale clients engaging in sustainability transition plans. This progress aligns with ING’s 2027 target of €150 billion annually, reinforcing its leadership in ESG-focused banking.

Challenges and Outlook
The bank faces lingering risks, including geopolitical instability and fragmented economic recovery in key markets. CEO Steven van Rijswijk emphasized caution in Q1 2025, noting that “clients remain cost-conscious,” particularly in sectors exposed to energy prices and inflation.

Yet ING’s resilient results suggest it is navigating these challenges effectively. The bank’s CET1 ratio, while slightly reduced from prior quarters, remains above peer averages, and its proposed dividend of €0.71 per share (in line with 2024’s payout) signals confidence in capital adequacy.

Conclusion: A Strong Foundation for Growth
ING’s Q1 2025 results demonstrate its strategic agility. Deposit growth and fee income diversification have become critical pillars of resilience, while its leadership in sustainable finance opens new revenue streams. With a CET1 ratio above 13%, robust customer engagement, and a focus on ESG integration, ING is well-positioned to capitalize on long-term trends in banking.

Investors should note that the bank’s stock has underperformed peers in 2025, trading at a 1.2x price-to-book ratio, below its five-year average of 1.4x. This valuation gap, coupled with strong fundamentals and a disciplined capital strategy, suggests ING could offer attractive upside for investors willing to bet on its execution of growth and sustainability targets.

In a sector marked by caution, ING’s results are a reminder that banks with diversified revenue streams, strong liquidity, and a focus on sustainable finance can thrive—even in uncertain times.