Bank insurer Belfius made a net profit of €479 million in the first half of 2023, up 22% on the same period last year, CEO Marc Raisière announced at a press conference on Friday.
The Belfius CEO hailed "solid" results and emphasised the good diversification of business activities and strict financial and risk management in a context of normalising interest rates.
Belfius' total revenues came to €1.870 billion – up 12.1% on the first half of 2022. The bank's net interest income also continued to rise (+30%), reaching just over €1 billion.
Belfius Bank sees its contribution to consolidated net profit rise for the third year running to €364 million, while Belfius Insurance's contribution is also up at €115 million.
The bancassurer's "solidity" was the watchword of the presentation, with its CEO and CFO emphasising its solvency ratio of 16.5% and equity of €11 billion.
In terms of financing, the first half closed with new long-term financing of €11.8 billion, across all segments. Overall, financing was down 7% due to the fall in demand for mortgages among individuals.
The insurance sector posted solid results, with non-life premiums (excluding health) up 7% to €426 million. Premiums collected in Life, meanwhile, amounted to 544 million, up 3%.
Referring to the one-year State bond with an interest rate of 2.81%, Raisière was clear: "You cannot compare a State bond with a savings account."
