KBC receives four gongs from Euromoney

Euromoney – a leading UK professional magazine in the financial sector – honoured KBC yesterday with four coveted 'Best Bank’ awards. KBC won not only the major ‘Best Bank in Western Europe’ award, it also picked up three individual country awards through KBC in Belgium, ČSOB in the Czech Republic and K&H in Hungary, which were all crowned ‘Best Bank’ in their respective countries. KBC is proud of this clear recognition of its ambition to be the reference in customer-centric bank-insurance in its core markets.

The Euromoney jury was particularly impressed by the sustainable and exceptionally high return on equity that KBC consistently achieves and by the high shareholder value that the group has created over the past decade. It also noted that KBC is more resilient to pressure on interest margins and combines healthy credit growth with low funding costs. In conclusion, it highlighted KBC's considerable strength in the area of digital services.

Johan Thijs, KBC Group CEO: 'KBC has now received its first Euromoney Award for Best Bank in Western Europe. This significant recognition reflects KBC's importance on the international financial front. The fact that we have also been crowned Best Bank in Belgium, the Czech Republic and Hungary once again is acknowledgement of the efforts put in by all our employees. As a dynamic and dedicated team, they endeavour every day to listen carefully to our customers and to translate their expectations into a focused and sustainable offering of products and services. This ability to adapt quickly and flexibly to an ever faster changing world is our greatest strength. I am grateful to our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders for joining us in this journey of innovation and continuous evolution. We can be justifiably proud and grateful for that.'

Daniel Falque, KBC Belgium CEO: 'These awards illustrate that we have succeeded in putting KBC firmly on the map as the reference in the financial sector. We are now receiving recognition not only on the international stage, but also in Belgium for what is the fourth time in a row. This resounding success is the culmination of much hard work in not always ideal circumstances, and every KBC employee who has helped achieve it should be genuinely proud of this special award.'

In addition this year, Extel – the umbrella organisation for financial analysts worldwide that presents annual awards for the most transparent and comprehensive information provided to investors – honoured KBC with the award for best CEO in the financial sector in Europe. The local Extel awards for Belgium (Best CEO, Best CFO, Best Investor Relations Manager and Best Investor Relations Team) also went to KBC.