ING profits rocket despite global cooling, instability

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Top Dutch bank ING said Thursday third quarter profits had more than doubled on the back of retail and wholesale banking despite a slowing global economy and geopolitical instability.

Net profit year-on-year soared by 102.5 percent in the third quarter to 1.98 billion euros ($2.1 billion) and revenue rose by 32.4 percent to 5.8 billion euros during the July-September period.

"Notwithstanding the cooling economy and amid polarising geopolitical developments, which impacted business and consumer confidence, both our Retail and Wholesale Banking businesses posted strong results," ING chief executive Steven van Rijswijk said.

Strong interest rates also boosted revenue, while ING saw an increase of 181,000 customers particularly in countries such as Germany, Australia and Turkey.

ING now serves 15.1 million primary customers across the globe.

Despite the good results, ING's shares were down by more than 1.5 percent in early morning trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange's blue-chip AEX index, which itself rose by 1.0 percent.