KBC reports losses of €40m for Q1

The Irish operation of KBC bank has reported losses of €40m for the first three months of the year following on from a loss of €766m for the last three months of 2013, due mainly to its residential loan book.

The bank’s residential loan book continues to cause problems, with KBC indicating that it may reclassify €2.6bn of loans, including €300m worth of restructured home loans, as non-performing in the third quarter of this year.

In a note, the bank said it may reclassify a section of its loan book from impaired to non-performing, which will result in its coverage ratio for non-performing loans falling from over 60% to 36%.