KBC posts higher profit with 7% loan growth

KBC Group posted third-quarter 2026 net profit of €1.142 billion on Nov. 12, up from €1.002 billion a year earlier, the Belgian bank-insurer said in a press release.

The quarter matters because nine-month net profit rose 11% to €2.851 billion from €2.566 billion, putting the latest quarter at about 40% of the year-to-date total, according to Atlas360 calculations.

Profit was slightly below the €1.152 billion reported in the second quarter. Basic earnings per share were €2.80 in the third quarter, compared with €2.83 in the prior quarter and €2.44 a year earlier.

“We recorded an excellent net profit of 1 142 million euros in the third quarter of 2026,” Chief Executive Officer Johan Thijs said in the release.

KBC said total income improved from the second quarter on higher insurance revenue, net fee and commission income, trading and fair-value income, and net interest income, excluding a lower contribution from inflation-linked bonds. Dividend income fell after its seasonal second-quarter peak, and net other income declined.

The loan book grew organically by 2% from the second quarter and 7% from a year earlier. Customer deposits, excluding volatile low-margin short-term deposits at foreign branches of KBC Bank, fell 1% quarter on quarter but rose 3% year on year.

By business unit, Belgium contributed €714 million of third-quarter net result, down from €747 million in the second quarter but up from €589 million a year earlier. The Czech Republic generated €252 million, International Markets €280 million and Group Centre a loss of €104 million.

Costs were not uniformly lower. KBC said operating expenses excluding bank and insurance taxes rose 3% from the second quarter, while remaining in line with full-year 2026 guidance on a year-to-date, like-for-like basis. Insurance service expenses after reinsurance also increased from the prior quarter.

Credit quality stayed contained by the company’s measure. KBC said total impairment charges were broadly similar to the second quarter, with lower non-loan impairment offset by higher loan-loss impairment. Excluding the reserve for geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties and the acquisition of 365.bank, the credit cost ratio improved to 12 basis points in the first nine months of 2026 from the end of 2025; one basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

Capital and liquidity metrics remained above internal and regulatory reference points disclosed by the company. KBC reported an unfloored fully loaded common equity ratio under Basel IV of 14.6% at the end of September, a liquidity coverage ratio of 157% and a net stable funding ratio of 131%. The liquidity coverage ratio measures high-quality liquid assets against short-term cash outflows; the net stable funding ratio gauges longer-term funding resilience.

KBC also highlighted its digital operations, saying its assistant Kate had reached 6.4 million customers across core countries and resolves more than 75% of customer questions fully autonomously. The bank said its MyMobility ecosphere had onboarded about 450,000 customers in Belgium and the Czech Republic, while MyHome had onboarded nearly 90,000 customers in Belgium.

The company said it paid an interim dividend of €1 per share last week as an advance on the total dividend for financial year 2026.

KBC said it will extend its usual fourth-quarter and full-year results conference call on Feb. 11, 2027 with a topical event on the group’s digital transformation. The company said the event will lead to new financial and non-financial guidance.

Source: press release, KBC Group via GlobeNewswire, Nov. 12, 2026