KBC denies lenders are overcharging

KBC Bank Ireland has posted its first quarterly net profit since the height of the financial crisis here, and has made a robust defence against critics who accuse Irish lenders of charging customers too much for their mortgage home loans.

KBC Ireland is disentangling itself from its troubled corporate and property lending to focus instead on the improving home-loans market. It said it is shaping up to become “a serious player” in the mortgage market.

With a huge reduction in the level of provisions it set aside in the first three months of the year to cover soured business loans in Ireland, the bank says it is on course to return to sustainable profits for the first time since 2008.