KBC Group: Third-quarter result of 1 142 million euros

‘We recorded an excellent net profit of 1 142 million euros in the third quarter of 2026. Compared to the previous quarter, our total income benefitted from higher insurance revenues, net fee and commission income, trading and fair value income, and net interest income (excluding the significantly lower net interest income on inflation-linked bonds). Net other income, on the other hand, was down, as was dividend income, following its seasonal peak in the second quarter. Our loan portfolio grew organically by 2% quarter-on-quarter and by as much as 7% year-on-year. Hence, year-to-date, organic loan growth has already surpassed our guidance for full-year 2026. Customer deposits – excluding volatile, low-margin short-term deposits at KBC Bank’s foreign branches – fell organically by 1% quarter-on-quarter due to seasonality, retail government bond issues and shifts towards asset management products, but rose by 3% year-on-year. Disregarding bank and insurance taxes, operating expenses were up 3% quarter-on-quarter, but on a year-to-date and like-for-like basis (disregarding forex effects, the recent acquisitions and the exceptional bonus paid to staff), they remained perfectly in line with our full-year 2026 guidance. Insurance service expenses after reinsurance were up quarter-on-quarter, while total impairment charges were largely in line with the level recorded in the previous quarter, with the decrease in non-loan related impairment more or less offsetting the increase in loan loss impairment. Compared to year-end 2025, our year-to-date credit cost ratio improved to 12 basis points in the first nine months of 2026 when the reserve for geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties and the recent acquisition of 365.bank are excluded.