ING announced today that it has informed the Dutch State of its intention to exercise its option for early repurchase of EUR 2 billion of the core Tier 1 securities at the next coupon reset date on 13 May 2011.

The repurchase of 200,000,000 core Tier 1 securities - for which the Dutch Central Bank has given its approval - has a nominal value of EUR 2 billion. The total payment will amount to EUR 3 billion and includes a 50% repurchase premium. ING will fund this repurchase from retained earnings.

The final decision on repurchase of these core Tier 1 securities will be made before the envisaged repayment date and will be conditional upon there having been no material changes regarding ING's capital requirements and/or ING's outlook on external market circumstances.

"Today's announcement marks another important milestone as we work towards the full repayment of the support ING received from the Dutch State," said Jan Hommen, CEO of ING. "The strong recovery of the banking business in 2010 has enabled us to accelerate the repurchase of the core Tier 1 securities from retained earnings, while maintaining a robust capital position post repayment."

The bank's strong recovery last year boosted ING's capital position resulting in a core Tier 1 ratio of 9.6% as of the end of December 2010. Based on our capital position at that date, the intended repurchase in May would reduce the core Tier 1 ratio by 90 basis points, and the ratio is expected to remain above 8.5%.

In December 2009 ING repurchased the first half of the core Tier 1 securities of EUR 5 billion plus a total premium of EUR 606 million. Provided that the strong capital generation continues, ultimately by May 2012 ING intends to repurchase the remaining EUR 3 billion core Tier 1 securities from retained earnings, on terms that are acceptable to all stakeholders.

tijd 09.05
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