KBC Group: Third-quarter result of 1 002 million euros
- Net profit:KBC Group reported a third-quarter result of €1,002 million.
- Net interest income:Up 1% QoQ and 10% YoY; net interest margin at 2.05%. Customer loans grew 2% QoQ / 8% YoY, while core customer deposits were stable QoQ and up 3% YoY.
- Insurance service result:€142 million, down from the previous quarter but well above last year (which was impacted by Storm Boris). Non-life result: €87m; life result: €55m. Combined ratio at an excellent 87%.
- Insurance sales:Non-life sales up 8% YoY; life sales up 29% QoQ and 7% YoY.
- Fee & commission income:Up 6% QoQ and 10% YoY, driven by asset management and banking services.
- Trading & fair value income:Down €29m QoQ and €20m YoY; dividend income lower as most dividends arrive in Q2.
- Operating expenses:Up 2% QoQ and 1% YoY (excl. taxes). Cost/income ratio improved to 45% (or 41% excluding all taxes).
- Loan loss impairments:€45m, sharply lower than both previous quarters; credit cost ratio at 0.12%.
- Associated companies:Contribution of €2m, compared to a one-off €79m gain a year earlier.
- Liquidity & capital:Strong liquidity (LCR 158%, NSFR 134%) and a robust fully-loaded CET1 ratio of 14.9%.
Speaking of KBC’s broader financial strategy and capital optimisation efforts, the group also announced a major structural move:
KBC has successfully completed its first-ever Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) transaction on a 4.2 billion euros corporate loan portfolio, in line with its strategy to optimise risk-weighted assets. The transaction involves placing credit-linked notes with institutional investors, covering the mezzanine tranche of the portfolio. As a result, KBC will save roughly 2 billion euros in RWA, which will strengthen the CET1 ratio by about 23 basis points as of Q4 2025.