By Maarten van Tartwijk

AMSTERDAM---Financial services company ING Groep NV (ING) Wednesday said it will scrap more jobs to prepare its banking and insurance operations for a standalone future, after reporting that net profit plunged by 64% in the third quarter.

The Netherlands' largest bank by assets reported third-quarter net profit of EUR609 million, down from EUR1.69 billion in the same period a year earlier. The results were hit a by a poor performance of the group's insurance business, which was partly offset by a gain on the sale of a 9.5% stake in Capital One Financial Corp. (COF).

In response to the tough market environment, ING said it will scrap 1,350 jobs at its European insurance business as it readies the unit for an initial public offering next year. In addition, the company said it will cut 1,000 jobs at its investment bank in a restructuring that comes on top of an overhaul of ING's retail bank that will result in 2,700 lost jobs in the coming years.

Chief Executive Jan Hommen said the restructuring is painful, but necessary to prepare the banking and insurance operations for a standalone future.

ING was one of the world's biggest financial conglomerates before it was hit hard during the global financial crisis in 2008, when it required a EUR10 billion capital injection from the Dutch state.

The company is now seeking to divest a flurry of assets to repay the government support and comply with a European Union-ordered restructuring program. EU regulators ordered ING to nearly halve its balance sheet as a condition for giving approval for the bailout, requiring it to sell its global insurance arm and some banking assets by the end of 2013.

Analysts fret that ING won't meet the deadline as some assets--including insurance operations in the U.S. and Europe--might be a hard sell in the current market environment. But the EU has refused to give ING more breathing space, although the two parties are currently in talks to discuss the matter.

-Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@dowjones.com

Order free Annual Report for ING Groep NV

Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=NL0000303600 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028

Order free Annual Report for Capital One Financial Corp.

Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=US14040H1059 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028

Order free Annual Report for ING Groep NV

Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=US4568371037 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028