Dutch financial services firm ING today reported 499 million euros profit for the third

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quarter, helped by strong performance in banking and insurance business.

In the year-ago period, the company had a net loss of 478 million euros, ING said in a statement.

"ING achieved a strong commercial performance in the third quarter, illustrating the strength of our banking and insurance franchises even in this challenging economic environment," ING Group CEO Jan Hommen.

Meanwhile, in the insurance business, the company has witnessed a strong growth in all the regions---Asia Pacific, Europe and the US.

America emerged as the best performer as it swung into profit of 182 million euros from a net loss of 83 million euros, followed by Europe where net profit jumped to 157 million euros from 47 million euros in the year-ago period.

In Asia-Pacific region, ING's net profit in insurance business stood at 165 million euros in the July to September period of this year from 50 million euros in the prior year.

The company said, Asian region's results improved as "market-related impacts turned positive, mainly due to Japan SPVA."

At insurance arm, total underlying income in the Asian region declined to 2.12 billion euros in the third quarter of 2009 from 3.12 billion in the year-ago period.