IBOS member KBC Group releases excellent Q1 2017 results with a net profit of 630 million euros.

KBC turned in another strong performance with a net profit of 630 million euros, well up on the 392 million euros in Q1 2016.

KBC’s lending and deposit volumes, as well as the bank’s assets under management, continued to grow in Q1 2017. In addition to the business performance, costs remained steady, and the bank’s solvency position remained strong. For Ireland, KBC’s guidance for loan impairment is for a release of 120-160 million euros for full year 2017.

Johan Thijs, CEO at KBC Group, commented:

“We again performed very well in the quarter under review, notwithstanding the fact that the first quarter is traditionally impacted by the bulk of bank taxes for the full year being booked upfront. We are especially happy with the way our net fee and commission income has rebounded. This is evidence that we are succeeding in our ambition to diversify our income towards fee business such as asset management and insurance. This, together with the very low level of loan loss impairment and our continued focus on cost containment, has enabled us to post an excellent 630 million euros in net profit.”

Below are the financial highlights for Q1 2017:

Both KBC’s banking and insurance franchises in its core markets and core activities continued to perform strongly

Quarter-on-quarter, lending to the bank’s clients increased by 1%, and deposits from its clients went up by 2%, with growth in both cases in almost all of KBC’s core countries

Year-on-year, the premium income KBC earned on its non-life insurance products increased by 6%

KBC’s net fee and commission income went up sharply, rising by 17% quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to the bank’s asset management services

Income taxes stood at 85 million euros and benefited from a one-off deferred tax asset of 66 million euros related to the liquidation of a group company