AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch lender ING said on Wednesday it would finish repaying on November 7 state aid it had received in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, clearing the way for it to resume dividend payments.
The completion comes six months ahead of schedule.
The final repayment of 1 billion euros will bring the total repaid to 13.5 billion euros, giving the Dutch state an annualised return of 12.7 percent.
"This support from the Dutch state saw us through the crisis and helped us to emerge stronger from it," Chief Executive Ralph Hamer said in a statement ahead of third-quarter results. "Therefore we are grateful to the Dutch state and its citizens, but also to our customers who continued to stand by us."
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)