Press Release
Outside Outside trading hours - Regulated information
Brussels, 9 November 2023, 7.00 a.m. CET
‘We recorded an excellent net profit of 877 million euros in the third quarter of 2023. Compared to the result of the previous quarter, our total income benefitted from several factors, including better insurance results and a slightly higher level of net fee and commission income, though these were offset by lower levels of net interest income, trading and fair value income and dividend income (following the traditional peak in the previous quarter). Costs, including bank and insurance taxes, were down slightly quarter-on-quarter, while impairment charges went up. Consequently, when adding up the results for the first three quarters of the year, our net profit amounted to 2 725 million euros, up 30% year-on-year.
Our loan portfolio continued to expand, increasing by 2% compared to a year ago, with growth being recorded in each of the group’s core countries. Customer deposits were down 2% year-on-year, as they were largely affected by deposit outflows caused by the issuance of the retail State Note (‘Staatsbon’) in Belgium at the start of September 2023.
On 11 August 2023, we started implementing our share buyback programme of 1.3 billion euros, which we announced in the previous quarter. By early November 2023, we had bought back approximately 5 million shares for a total consideration of around 0.3 billion euros. The share buyback is planned to run until 31 July 2024. In line with our general dividend policy, we will also pay out an interim dividend of 1 euro per share on 15 November 2023 as an advance on the total dividend for financial year 2023.
Our solvency position remained solid, with a fully loaded common equity ratio of 14.6% at the end of September 2023, which already fully incorporates the effect of the share buyback programme of 1.3 billion euros and the net increase in risk-weighted assets following the ECB’s model review, as announced in August. Our liquidity position remained excellent, as illustrated by an NSFR of 139% and LCR of 157%.
Lastly, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the independent international research agency Sia Partners has once again named KBC Mobile the best mobile banking and insurance app in Belgium. KBC Mobile has further consolidated the leading position it held last year and secured a top-three position worldwide. And to top things off, Sia Partners also awarded our app with the title of best user experience for car and home insurance.
In that respect, I’d like to sincerely thank all our employees for their contribution to our group’s continued success. I also want to thank all our customers, shareholders and all other stakeholders for their trust and support, and assure them that we remain committed to being the reference in bank-insurance and digitalisation in all our home markets.’
Johan Thijs,
Chief Executive Officer
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