ING 1Q17 net result EUR 1,143 million

ING continues to record commercial growth in 1Q17 with consistent focus on innovation and sustainability
·	Primary customer numbers up: EUR 5.7 billion net core lending growth and EUR 6.7 billion net customer deposit inflow
·	ING's innovative new products and services as well as sustainability initiatives are increasingly being adopted by the market
ING 1Q17 underlying pre-tax result of EUR 1,652 million, up 39.3% year-on-year
·	Strong result reflects robust loan growth at resilient margins, improved performance in Financial Markets and lower risk costs
·	ING Group fully-loaded common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 14.5%, up from 14.2% at year-end 2016
CEO statement "ING had a strong first quarter supported by continued commercial growth," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. "ING's underlying pre-tax result rose 39.3% to EUR 1,652 million from a year ago, reflecting continued loan growth, good cost control and relatively low risk costs. Wholesale Banking's contribution was particularly strong, led by higher income from Financial Markets and commissions. While the first-quarter net result declined to EUR 1,143 million from EUR 1,257 million a year ago, this is explained by a EUR 506 million profit from the sale of shares in NN Group in the first quarter of 2016." "We continued to innovate in Wholesale Banking, where Easy Trading Connect reached a milestone by successfully completing the first test of a large oil trade using blockchain technology, in cooperation with one of our clients and a major French bank. This proves that the commodity trade finance sector, where processes are largely paper-based and labour intensive, can be digitalised. We also collaborated with our client Royal Philips, acting as Sustainability Coordinator in the creation of the first syndicated loan where the pricing is linked to the client's Sustainalytics rating. If the rating goes up, the interest rate on the EUR 1 billion revolving credit facility goes down-and vice versa. This is an example of how companies are increasingly integrating sustainability into their business objectives."