ING half year net profits up 74%

AMSTERDAM - Dutch banking and insurance group, ING, yesterday reported a 74% rise in net profits during the first half of 1998 to Fl3.86bn, but saw profit before tax on non-life business fall by 25% to Fl209m, largely due to an increase in weather-related claims including the Canadian ice storms and floods and storms in Australia. However, with a 60% increase in profit before tax on the life side, the group saw its overall insurance income rise by 54% to 2.51bn guilders, partly as a result of its recent acquisition of the Equitable of Iowa in the US. - Full report, Tuesday's Insurance Day.