ING raised its income and profitability targets for both 2026 and 2027 after second-quarter net profit reached €1.95 billion. The result exceeded the €1.83 billion consensus compiled by the bank and turned the quarter into more than an earnings beat: management used the stronger performance to reset expectations for the next 18 months.
Fee income supplied the clearest surprise, rising 14% to €1.28 billion. Chief Executive Steven van Rijswijk attributed the improvement to customers using more of ING’s products and services, a pattern that lifted both interest and fee revenue. The explanation matters because it presents the quarter as broader client penetration rather than a result produced solely by interest-rate movements.
Investors focused on the scale of the outlook change. ING shares gained about 2.5% in early Amsterdam trading as the bank raised its 2026 total-income target to more than €24.5 billion from more than €24 billion. For 2027, it added over €1 billion to the prior outlook and now expects total income above €26 billion.
The bank also increased its return-on-tangible-equity targets to more than 15% for 2026 and more than 16% for 2027. At the same time, it expects operating expenses to reach €13 billion by the end of 2027. The upgraded return goals therefore depend on revenue growth and client activity outpacing an expense base that management already expects to expand.
Net interest income for the quarter was broadly in line with market expectations, but ING raised its full-year guidance to as much as €17 billion. Higher interest rates supported earnings, according to van Rijswijk. That tailwind remains sensitive to the European Central Bank’s policy path, which will influence asset yields, deposit pricing and the durability of the bank’s interest margin.
The new forecast also adjusts the balance of risks described earlier in the year. In April, van Rijswijk had said higher rates would increase net interest income but that lower income elsewhere, including hedging-related revenue, would offset much of the benefit. The second-quarter figures show fees and customer activity providing a stronger counterweight than that earlier caution implied.
Management said client activity remained resilient despite continued bombing in the Middle East. Van Rijswijk pointed to a steady flow of new deals and ongoing customer investment. That observation supports the higher guidance, but it does not remove geopolitical or monetary risk: a slowdown in transactions, weaker borrowing demand or a different rate path could still alter the income mix.
ING must now convert a single strong quarter into the annual figures it has promised. The measurable tests are income above €24.5 billion in 2026, up to €17 billion of net interest income, return on tangible equity above 15%, and then more than €26 billion of income with returns above 16% in 2027. The guidance upgrade raises the bank’s ceiling, but it also narrows management’s room for a weaker second half.
