THE HAGUE: Dutch bank ING on Wednesday said it would cut a further 2,350 jobs in the coming years as it announced a sharp drop in net profits for the third quarter.
Some 1,350 jobs would go from its insurance branch in Europe by the end of 2014, saving 200 million euros ($257 million) a year, while 1,000 posts would be axed from its banking branch from 2015, saving 260 million euros, ING said.
Net profit for the third quarter reached just 609 million euros ($784 million), sharply down from the 1.69 billion euros posted for the same period a year ago.
The results were lower than analyst forecasts of 831 million euros as polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
"As we work to solidify strong stand-alone futures for bank and insurance, we are taking steps to increase our agility in this uncertain environment," CEO Jan Hommen was quoted as saying in a statement.
The Dutch banking group had already in November 2011 announced that it would shed 2,000 jobs from its banking operations in the Netherlands in 2012 and 2013 in order to save 300 million euros a year.
The European Commission has told ING to restructure its business, as the Dutch firm seeks to repay 10 billion euros in state aid it received in October 2008 during the financial crisis.
ING said it was making good progress in talks with the Commission over lightening the burden of restructuring.
CEO Hommen said in a teleconference that the group was also "making strides" towards floating its US insurance branch. "The market has become better," he said. (AFP)
