market in 2007, growing its portfolio by 16.4 per cent, parent ING
Group said in its fourth quarter earnings release.
General leasing increased its portfolio by 18.3 per cent to
€15.3bn while factoring volumes grew 31 per cent to €12.8bn.
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The leasing and factoring division reported a 13 per cent fall
in underlying fourth quarter net profit, as investment losses and
higher operating expenses offset strong volume growth.
Underlying net profit for the quarter was €40m against €46m in
the same quarter last year while total underlying income slipped
0.7 per cent to €141m as an extraordinary gain of €8m in the sale
of Trifleet boosted income in the previous year.
Excluding this gain, underlying net profit would have risen 5.2
per cent in the fourth quarter.
An overall weakening of margins in 2007 however caused full year
underlying net profit to drop 2.6 per cent to €150m even as margins
strengthened in the fourth quarter.
But the Dutch financial group remained upbeat on the leasing and
factoring business as it pushes expansion plans to maintain its
position as a top-5 lessor in Europe. It continues to invest
heavily in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and said it
would launch itself in high-growth markets of Ukraine and
Russia.
ING Lease’s risk-adjusted return on capital ratio after tax
remained strong even as higher tax charges lowered it to 21.2 per
cent against the previous year’s 22.6 per cent.
