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(Reuters) - NN Group NV, the insurance arm of Dutch banking giant ING Group, posted a 16.6 percent rise in quarterly operating profit, driven by heavy cost cutting and lower debt funding costs.
NN Group, whose retirement, insurance and investment services span 18 countries across four continents, said it expected to meet its 200 million euro (157 million pounds) cost cutting target by 2016.
Operating profit from ongoing business rose to 274 million euros in the third quarter, compared with 235 million euros a year earlier.
NN Group's assets under management increased to 180 billion euros at the end of the third quarter, up 2.3 percent on year.
The group reported strong sales across all regions. It has a substantial European presence with a strong position in the Dutch market, besides operations in Japan and a global investment management business.
ING, which owns 68.1 percent of NN Group, spun the unit off in July in the largest listing continental Europe had seen for three years. The move was part of a major restructuring in which ING also shed its investment bank and cut thousands of jobs to comply with the terms of its state rescue.
ING has pledged to sell its remaining stake in NN Group by 2016.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bangalore; Editing by Sunil Nair)