Company: INGVF
Filing Date: 2025-07-31
Form Type: 6-K
Source: 0001628280-25-036812
Chunk: 12

Company: ING GROEP NV
Filing Date: 2025-07-31
Form: 6-K
Chunk 12
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 these factors resulted in a strong financial performance, with a result before tax of EUR 3,145 million (versus EUR 3,338 million in the first half of 2024) and a return on equity of 21.9%.

#### Retail Netherlands
Retail Netherlands posted a result before tax of EUR 1,398 million, compared with EUR 1,443 million in the first six months of 2024, which had benefited from a net release from loan loss provisions. Total income increased slightly, while operating expenses declined due to lower regulatory costs.

Results in the first half of 2025 were supported by a further increase in our customer base and customer balances. Net core lending growth (which excludes movements in Treasury and in the Westland Utrecht Bank run-off portfolio) was EUR 8.5 billion. We expanded our mortgage portfolio by EUR 5.5 billion while gaining market share. This was coupled with growth in the business lending and consumer lending portfolios. Customer deposits (excluding Treasury) increased by EUR 5.2 billion.

Commercial NII remained resilient, with continued growth in lending portfolios and higher savings volumes offsetting margin compression. Other NII amounted to EUR -295 million (versus EUR -269 million the year before) and mainly refers to funding costs for Financial Markets and Treasury, for which an offsetting revenue is recorded in ‘other income’.

Net fee and commission income rose 5.3%, with increases across all products, particularly investment products, reflecting growth in assets under management. Investment and other income increased to EUR 403 million (from EUR 376 million in the first half of 2024), entirely due to Treasury.

Operating expenses declined 4.1% to EUR 981 million. This was due to lower regulatory costs as the deposit guarantee fund in the Netherlands has reached its target level. Excluding regulatory costs, expenses were stable. Increases in internal staff expenses due to collective labour agreements and EUR 14 million of restructuring costs recorded in the first half of 2025 were offset by operational efficiencies and savings on external staffing.

Net additions to loan loss provisions were EUR 72 million, the equivalent of 9 basis points of average customer lending. The comparable period of 2024 had a EUR 43 million net release of loan loss provisions, driven by a strong improvement in the housing market and a partial release of management overlays.

#### Retail Belgium
The result before tax for Retail Belgium (which includes our retail activities in Luxembourg) declined to EUR 226 million (from EUR 357 million