KBC bails out Irish subsidiary with another €130m

KBC Group, Belgium’s biggest bank by market value, pumped €130m into its Irish unit last month, bringing the bailout bill to about €1.38bn, as the lender continues to grapple with losses following the property crash.

KBC Bank Ireland raised the money by selling shares to its immediate parent, KBC Bank NV, in Brussels on December 22, according to documents filed with the Irish Companies Registration Office.

The Dublin-based unit received €1.25bn of capital support from its parent between 2008 and 2013, it said in response to questions. KBC said in November that it expects its Irish unit to return to profit from 2016 after posting losses since 2011.

While some 53% of the bank’s €14.6bn Irish loan book was categorised as impaired at the end of September, net losses for the third quarter narrowed to €36m from €57m, as it tackled soured loans.

The bank forecast Irish bad-loan losses at the “high end of the range” of €150m to €200m for 2014, before declining to €50m to €100m for each 2015 and 2016.

KBC appointed Wim Verbraeken as chief executive in 2013, replacing John Reynolds.