ING Canada Inc. today reported net income of $185.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, up 17.3% from $158.5 million the first quarter of 2005.

Revenue also increased to $1,133.8 million, up 3.2% from $1,098.8 million in the corresponding quarter of 2005.

Earnings per share for the first quarter of 2006 amounted to $1.39, compared to $1.19 for the corresponding period in 2005.

ING Canada also declared a quarterly dividend of 25¢ a share on its outstanding common shares.

“We continued to achieve good results in the first quarter. Our investment results improved significantly over last year due to favourable fixed income and equity market gains,” said Claude Dussault, president and CEO, in a release.

“Our underwriting results benefited from improvements in claims frequency and severity and although prior year claims development was less favourable compared to last year, it was once again strongly positive in the quarter. In addition, our total number of insured risks continued to increase, mitigating the impact of reductions in insurance rates,” Dussault added.

ING Canada said top line growth for the property and casualty insurance industry is expected to remain below historical levels this year. Underwriting performance is expected to fall below the favourable levels witnessed in 2005 but to exceed historical averages.

Financial Highlights

Net premiums earned in Q1 decreased by $31.1 million as a result of overall average rate reductions of 3.3%. However, investment income from insurance subsidiaries remained stable, increasing by $0.2 million to $68.3 million, while realized investment and other gains increased by $64.9 million to $107.6 million. The improvement resulted from a repositioning of the fixed income portfolio as well as higher gains in equities due to favourable market conditions.

Shareholders’ equity increased during the quarter by 5.3% to reach $3,046 million on March 31, 2006.