ING posts lower Q1 net interest income as higher interest rates lift funding costs

(Reuters) - ING Groep reported on Thursday lower first-quarter net interest income (NII), a key measure of earnings from loans minus deposit costs, as higher interest rates led to an increase in funding costs in financial markets activities.

The largest Dutch bank by assets reported net interest income of 3.83 billion euros ($4.11 billion) for the first three months of the year, down from 4.01 billion euros a year ago.

($1 = 0.9329 euros)

(Reporting Diana Mandiá and Matteo Allievi; Editing by Jamie Freed)