The Irish division of the Belgian retail bank, KBC has announced profits after tax and loan write-downs of €16.2m for the first three months of 2015. This compares with losses of €17m for the same period last year.
Loan write-downs fell from €48m in last year’s first quarter to €7.4m this year. KBC says it acquired 15,000 new customer accounts during the quarter and has grown its share of the mortgage market here to 12 percent. Mortgage arrears cases are down by 23 percent since December 2013.
Retail deposit growth increased by 22 percent to €3.6bn, during the period the bank opened new banking hubs in Naas, Kilkenny and Waterford and acquired properties in central Dublin and Wilton in Cork.
Wim Verbraeken chief executive of KBC Bank Ireland commented on the results: "We previously indicated that the Bank is on track to return to profit by 2016 and we are pleased with our progress so far."
"However, we are still in expansion mode and this growth requires continued investment in new retail banking hubs and digital platforms to ensure we offer superior service and innovation for customers," he adds.
