Financial companies listed on the European market can be invested in by individuals who wish to speculate on the stock market. Among these stocks, the ING Group share is interesting to study. We will therefore present here in detail the activity of this group, as well as a historical analysis of its share price which will be useful before buying or selling the ING share.
Firstly, we will of course follow all the operations of the ING Group as part of its international expansion strategy. This usually involves the creation of joint ventures with local companies, but can also result in the takeover of foreign banks.
The diversification of the portfolio of banking products and services offered by this group will also be closely monitored. Indeed, by adding new services to the existing ones, ING could conquer new segments of the population and thus gain new customers.
Of course, as with all companies in the banking sector, it is important to monitor any changes in government regulations or the ECB that will have a direct impact on ING's activities.
The economic situation in Europe, which remains ING's main market, is also an element to be monitored as it directly influences consumers' needs for banking products (mainly loans and savings).
Finally, it is important to know that the insurance sector that ING Direct is trying to develop is subject to the same hazards as other companies in this sector. Natural disasters can also be the source of major losses for this group and, depending on the extent of the disaster and the area affected, can have a sufficient impact on the group's profitability to have a negative impact on its share price.
In order to understand how ING's share price is likely to evolve over time, you need to understand how this company generates its revenues and what its major sources of profit are. This is why we offer you a detailed presentation of the ING share with details of its activities and the turnover they generate by sector and also by geographical area. This information will enable you to refine your analysis of the group's results and therefore the analysis of its share price before buying or selling.
ING Groep N.V. is the major financial services group in the Benelux, offering a full range of banking and insurance services to over 38 million customers worldwide. Founded in 1991, the company is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.
Retail banking is the core business of ING, generating 84% of its total revenues. This activity is divided between the Netherlands (32.3%), Belgium (18.6%), Germany (18.6%) and other countries (30.5%). ING offers a full range of banking products and services to individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. ING's retail banking is characterised by a customer-centric approach, with innovative online services and an exceptional user experience.
ING's corporate banking accounts for 31% of its total revenues. This division provides corporate and investment services to its institutional clients, including loans, bond issues, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets services. ING is recognised for its expertise in sustainable finance, having been named Europe's best bank for sustainable finance in 2021.
Finally, ING's other activities, such as insurance, leasing and specialised financing activities, account for 4% of its total revenues.
At the end of 2022, ING will have €640.8 billion of deposits under management.
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Let's now take a moment to look at ING Group's main rivals with a presentation of its most important competitors in the banking and insurance sectors.
In the Dutch banking sector, ING's most important competitor is the Dutch commercial and investment bank ABN AMRO. It is included in the AEX stock index. It should be noted that the company was subsequently acquired by a consortium of several banks including Fortis, RBS and Santander in 2007, which represents the largest acquisition ever made in the banking sector with an amount of over 70 million euros.
Another banking group in direct competition with ING is BPCE, which is the joint central body of the Banque Populaire and the Caisse d'Epargne in France. Remember that this group was formed by the merger in 2009 of the Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne and the Banque Fédérale des Banques Populaires. The BPCE group is thus the second largest cooperative banking institution in the world, just after Crédit Agricole, and includes all the companies that formerly made up the two banking groups, as well as their own or joint subsidiaries.
Another giant of the European banking industry, Crédit Agricole was once specialised in services to the agricultural world and is still today the largest network of cooperative and mutual banks in the world. In France, its network includes 39 Crédit Agricole regional banks and its holding company Crédit Agricole SA is listed on the Euronext Paris market and is part of the CAC 40 stock market index.
The Spanish banking group Santander is also a serious competitor in this sector and is one of the largest banks in Europe. Of course, the company is listed on the Madrid stock exchange but also in London, Milan and New York and employs more than 182,000 people with more than 90 million customers and has 13,390 branches worldwide. The banking group focuses on several main markets with Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the USA.
Let's move on to the second sector in which ING Group is active, namely the insurance sector. Here, one of its main competitors is the AEGON group, which is currently the second largest insurer in the Netherlands. But it is also active in the United States and is also a shareholder of ING with a 6.3% stake.
Finally, the last competitor in the insurance sector is the Ageas Group, formerly known as Fortis, which is a Belgian insurance group listed on the Euronext market. It was created by the merger in 1990 of AMEV, a Dutch insurer, VSB Groep, a Dutch banking group, and AG Group, a Belgian insurer, and has subsequently made several acquisitions, particularly in the Benelux countries.
In 2018, ING and AXA announced an exclusive long-term, multi-country bancassurance partnership that aims to provide insurance products and related services through a centralized digital insurance platform. ING will contribute its expertise in online banking and AXA will contribute its expertise in modular and innovative insurance products and services. AXA will offer property and casualty, health and life insurance products to ING customers in more than 6 different countries including France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria and Australia.
This company, which develops online reservation systems for accommodation and restaurants and is one of the main players in the cloud software market, has also set up a strategic partnership with the ING Group. The aim is to strengthen the company's international positions through a financial participation of ING Belgium in this company. Thanks to this financing, Stardekk will be able to expand its international network, broaden and deepen its product range and give a real boost to its organisation.
First of all, ING Group has a strong advantage in terms of its brand name, which is very popular with the general public. If you look at the various bank comparison sites, you will see that this bank is often ranked among the best, which of course helps it to win new customers.
Stock market investors also appreciate the group's healthy financial situation. In the banking sector, few companies manage to post stable and reassuring results and ING is one of them. Again, this can lead to greater shareholder interest in this share than in the shares of competing banking groups.
Although ING is primarily a bank known on the French market, it is also an international company. For many years now, ING has been implementing a real expansion strategy in the rest of the world and has created joint ventures in certain foreign countries. This of course gives it a head start on some of its competitors, particularly in Europe, and enables it to protect itself more against the risks associated with the French economy alone.
Another undeniable advantage of ING Bank is its advantageous positioning in certain specific segments. This is particularly the case with asset management services, where the bank ranks among the leaders in the sector. This helps to strengthen its image among investors and makes its share price more attractive.
Among the various assets of the ING Group, we can of course also mention its very large workforce. Indeed, through its various branches spread throughout the world, ING Group employs more than 100,000 people. These employees enable it to offer its banking products and services in an efficient manner with a quality of customer relations that is often praised by critics.
Finally, it is also important to mention among the advantages of this group and its stock market action the fact that the ING group already has a very strong customer base at the moment with an increase in the number of customers recorded every year. Today, ING offers its services to more than 85 million customers in over 40 countries around the world. This very large customer base is also easily retained and enables it to gain even more additional customers thanks, among other things, to strategies based on sponsorship offers.
First of all, if you are interested in the banking sector in general, you are probably aware that this sector is extremely competitive. In addition to the major French and European historical players in this field who have a large market share, ING is increasingly confronted with certain new generation and 100% online banks. The ING Group has also set up its own online banking offer to counter these pure players. Competition is particularly strong in the insurance market, where ING is having difficulty positioning itself despite numerous efforts in this area over the past few years. The threat therefore comes from various segments and not only from the banking segments.
Another weak point of the ING group likely to have negative consequences on its share price concerns the profits made by this bank, which show little regularity. Indeed, if the overall financial situation of this company is good as we mentioned above among the assets of this group, the profits are very fluctuating from one year to another.
Finally, another downside for ING's stock is the frozen funds controversy that has affected it and other European banks and is still weighing on overall investor confidence.
You should therefore compare the pros and cons of this bank before buying or selling ING stock and make sure you anticipate as best you can how this stock will be perceived by the markets.
Regarding the evolution of the dividend of the ING Group share, we note that this dividend was €0.69 net per share for the year 2019, i.e. a yield of 11.88%. For 2020, forecasts indicate a net dividend per share of €0.34, i.e. a yield of 5.82%, and for the year 2021, forecasts indicate a net dividend per share of €0.45, i.e. a yield of 7.75%.
ING Group regularly communicates its financial targets. It recently published a target for 2020 of a turnover of 17,764 million euros, i.e. an EBITDA of -3%. As for its longer-term forecasts, we also note a turnover target of 17,970 million euros for 2021 with an EBITDA of 1% equivalent to that achieved in 2019.
If you want to buy the ING share online or trade up on its price, you need to find the best time to do so. It is therefore recommended that you closely follow news that could influence this stock upwards, such as the publication of optimistic results or forecasts or any other important operation, remembering to systematically check that the technical analysis is moving in the same direction as these signals.
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