ING Direct 2006 Annual Report Download - page 6

Chairman’s statement
“ ING performed very well in
2006. I am particularly pleased
that we have been able to
further enlarge our business
franchise. We attracted more
and increasingly satisfi ed
clients, launched new products
and expanded our distribution
capacity.”
In 2006, our underlying business
performance remained strong, helping
us sustain our growth momentum.
We managed to raise net profi t by 6.7%
to EUR 7,692 million and realised a good
return on capital. Our underlying net profi t
– total net profi t without the impact of
divestments and special items – increased
by 24.3%. This was accomplished in an
increasingly challenging environment, with
growing competition and, in the second
half of the year, a decline in long-term
interest rates and a substantial fl attening
of yield curves. At the same time, our
businesses have also benefi ted in the
current market environment, for instance
from rallying equity and real estate markets.
ING continues to offer a solid increase
in shareholder return. Amongst our
peer group of 20 global fi nancial
organisations, we rank second in terms of
Total Shareholder Return over the three-
year period since 2004. This exceeds our
fi nancial objective to offer our shareholders
a higher total return than the average of
that of our peers over the longer term.
The results in 2006 clearly illustrate that our
people are very committed and motivated
to make our strategy a success. Talent
management and developing our future
leaders are crucial for the future of our
company. That is why we launched our fi rst
International Graduate Programme, a talent
development programme for recently hired
graduates with leadership potential.
Being successful throughout the
economic cycle requires sound business
fundamentals. Over the past few years we
have taken diffi cult but necessary steps to
Michel Tilmant chairman Executive Board
Who we are
continued
rebalance our business portfolio, better
allocate capital and improve on execution.
One of ING’s distinguishing features is
our ability to reallocate the capital that
we generate in our mature businesses to
the most value-adding areas within the
company, including our growth engines.
In line with ING’s entrepreneurial tradition,
we continue to invest in new initiatives that
expand growth organically, in both the
mature and developing markets in which
we operate.
Improving our execution of the business
fundamentals is another cornerstone of our
strategy. In 2006, we further improved the
effi ciency of our operations. Customers are
the central driving force of our operations,
and all ING businesses now measure
customer satisfaction and develop concrete
action plans to improve their customer
focus. These efforts are already paying
off. We have been able to increase our
customer base, and expand our product
offering. We are also expanding our
distribution capacity, making optimal use
of direct channels and the bancassurance
possibilities that ING offers.
The brand name ING stands for quality in
fi nancial services. ING is in the Interbrand
top-100 global brands for the third
consecutive year, rising to 85 in 2006 from
87 in 2005. In order to raise our brand
profi le and bring our brand awareness
more in line with our global client reach,
we decided to further invest in our
brand. For the next three years ING will
be the offi cial title sponsor of the ING
Renault Formula One team, giving us the
strongest platform for increasing our brand
awareness globally.
We are faced with a growing emphasis
on compliance, additional regulation
and increased complexity in accounting
and reporting. Our commitment to fully
comply with all rules and regulations in the
jurisdictions in which we operate stands
fi rm. Complying with regulations is our
licence to operate. It is a responsibility that
all our employees share, regardless of their
position within the company. Knowing,
understanding and operating by the
rules is a natural part of every employee’s
mindset, and we continuously strive to
improve compliance awareness within the
organisation.
During the Shareholders’ Meeting on
24 April 2007 we will say goodbye to
Cees Maas, vice-chairman and CFO of the
Executive Board. It will be proposed to
the Shareholders’ Meeting that he will be
succeeded by John Hele as Chief Financial
Offi cer and Koos Timmermans as Chief
Risk Offi cer. Paul van der Heijden will retire
from the Supervisory Board. Also on behalf
of my Executive Board colleagues, I would
like to thank Cees Maas for his tremendous
contribution to ING and Paul van der
Heijden for his commitment as Supervisory
Board member. We are pleased that Cees
Maas will continue to serve ING as advisor
to the Executive Board.
Michel Tilmant
chairman Executive Board
ING Group Annual Review 20064