ING posts losses, to scrap dividend

ING Groep NV, the first Dutch bank and insurer to tap a government rescue package, may not pay a dividend this year after posting its second consecutive quarterly loss.

ING fell as much as 7.9 percent in Amsterdam trading after yesterday reporting a fourth-quarter loss of 3.71 billion euros ($4.68 billion), or 1.82 euros a share. That was less than the 3.9 billion-euro loss it forecast last month and compared with net income of 2.48 billion euros, or 1.18 euros, a year earlier.

ING, which traces its roots to 1743, is cutting 7,000 jobs in a bid to reduce operating costs by 1 billion euros this year. Following fourth-quarter writedowns of 3 billion euros, the Amsterdam-based company is transferring the risk on most Alt-A mortgage assets to the Netherlands and focusing on fewer businesses and markets.