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ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services firm, posted a record drop in Amsterdam trading on speculation the bank and insurer may need to raise capital.
ING slumped as much as 25 percent to 7.56 euros, the most since it was created in March 1991 in a merger of Nationale- Nederlanden and NMB Postbank Group. The shares traded 16 percent lower as of 1:20 p.m., valuing the Amsterdam-based company at 17.6 billion euros ($23.5 billion).
The Netherlands made 20 billion euros available to financial institutions on Oct. 10 to boost liquidity and strengthen capital amid a worsening global credit crunch. ING said at the time that it would assess the government package and the ``possible implications once more details are available.'' That statement still holds, spokeswoman Carolien van der Giessen said today.
``There seems to be ongoing speculation that ING doesn't have enough capital,'' said Joost de Graaf, a senior portfolio manager who helps oversee about $650 million at Kempen Capital Management in Amsterdam. Kempen doesn't hold ING stock.
Dutch Finance Ministry spokesman Jilles Heringa said today no company has made use of the 20 billion-euro fund yet. He declined to further comment.
The government, which earlier this month bought the Dutch units of Fortis and ABN Amro Holding NV for 16.8 billion euros, also offered to guarantee as much as 200 billion euros of interbank loans. Financial companies globally have raised more than $612 billion in capital since the credit crisis started last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
`Additional Capital'
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said in a note to clients dated Oct. 15 that big insurers in the U.K. and the Netherlands, including ING, are more likely to need additional capital than their peers in Europe, which generally are better positioned than banks to endure financial stress.
``ING screens poorly as a result of the adjustments we have made to its calculated excess capital,'' London-based Goldman Sachs analysts Will Morgan and Johnny Vo wrote. ``We have assumed the bank needs to run on a core Tier 1 ratio of 6 percent, as opposed to the company's target of 5.4 percent.''
The core Tier I capital ratio is an indicator of a financial institution's ability to absorb losses.
ING, which said Oct. 10 that it was ``a financially solid organization'' declined further comment.
Aegon NV, the owner of U.S. insurer Transamerica Corp., fell 0.9 percent in Amsterdam trading after declining 18 percent over the preceding two days.