ING Real Estate, part of Dutch financial services group ING, swang to a pre-tax profit of EUR 34 mln in 2011, from a loss of EUR 109 mln a year before.
ING Real Estate, part of Dutch financial services group ING, swang to a pre-tax profit of EUR 34 mln in 2011, from a loss of EUR 109 mln a year before.
ING's Commercial Banking, which incorporates the real estate division, saw however a 9% drop in pre-tax profit from EUR 2.2 bn in 2010 to EUR 2 bn last year, largely as a result of depreciation of its Greek government bonds.
Writedowns in the real estate arm almost halved to EUR 273 mln last year, compared to EUR 434 mln in 2010.
ING, which is seeking to reduce its exposure to real estate, sold or put a half to about 100 development projects, reducing the development pipeline by EUR 700 mln.
Earlier this week, the company's property development arm announced the latest disposal with the sale of its 77% interest in the owner of Warsaw's landmark Zlote Tarasy mixed-use property development. The deal reduces the group's exposure to real estate by EUR 475 mln.
