The new context of the financial markets has also given wings to ING, which last year obtained a record profit of 208 million euros, exceeding the figures of the previous year by 14%. The bank of Dutch origin, directed in Spain by Ignacio Juliá, gained 250,000 customers last year – at a rate that multiplies the previous figures by five – to exceed the figure of four million, which places it with a market share of 7 %, according to data from the entity itself.
Juliá presented ING’s financial results this morning, describing the environment as “uncertain”, with inflation as the main driver of changes and unprecedented and accelerated rate hikes from negative levels. “The trend towards digitization has not stopped and it occurs in a stronger competitive environment.”
The vast majority of transactions carried out by customers with the bank are digital and, of these, the most used option is through the mobile phone. These are data that the main executive of the group underlines as the key to an efficiency in customer service that is higher than the average for the sector in Spain.
The growth in revenue, driven to a large extent by interest rate rises, allowed it to reach a gross margin of 883 million, an increase of 14%. The bank raised financing for customers by 20%, signing 30,000 new mortgages. It also expanded the business towards activities such as insurance, with 87,000 new policy subscriptions or participation in large corporate operations, such as the integration of MasMóvil and Orange, in the telecommunications sector, or the financing of large infrastructures, such as the case of the JFK airport in New York for Ferrovial.
Deposit growth was 29%, a sign that customer compensation offers opportunities for banks that know how to read the environment, according to Juliá. Although mortgage prices have skyrocketed, the sector still works with the handbrake on the remuneration of liabilities by paying deposits well below the price of credits.
In this sense, ING has in its orange account its hooking flag and a tool to put pressure on competitors. The entity was already one of the first banks to remunerate customer savings after the first rises in interest rates. Currently, it offers an annual return of 0.7% through the account, with the advantage that the client always has the money available. Juliá has not ruled out improving this offer as rates rise from next March. “The rise in rates brings obligations. We once again have options to reward our clients and have a positive margin. We will adapt to the environment and how the market is going,” Juliá assured.
The CEO has made it clear that the bank’s activity in Spain is “very relevant” for the group of Dutch origin. “There was a strategic review of the group and the activity in France, Austria and the Czech Republic was closed because the idea was to be in countries where it could be growing and there is Spain.”
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