"Belfius ready for eventual IPO," says board chairman
Belgian bancassurance group Belfius has reported pre-tax net income of €473m for the first half of 2018 (€335m post-tax), the banking segment contributing at €274m while the insurance branch posts net income of €199m.
Belfius’ revenue has grown 3.3% year-on-year to €1.17bn, mostly driven by insurance revenues. Other revenues have been either stable or have declined.
The private banking and wealth management assets of the group have soared by 5% yoy to €37.7bn.
Commenting on the H1 2018 results, Jos Clijsters, board chairman of Belfius group, said : “Our solid half-year results enable us to pay a €100m interim dividend to our shareholder and strengthen our conviction Belfius is eventually ready for an initial public offering. Notwithstanding, given the tough market and rate environment, we need to pursue the diversification of our revenues and of the efforts we made in recent years regarding cost management and operating excellency. It is only through this that we will continue to strengthen our sustainable role in favour of the Belgian society and economy.”
Belfius is rumored to be listed next Autumn on Euronext Brussels. In an interview to Belgian trade newspaper L’Echo, Belfius’ chief executive officer Marc Raisière said the listing could take place on the Belgian stock exchange eventually “end of October, start of November”, assessing it would be a “correct moment for both the Belgian state (Belfius’ majority shareholder) and the investor.”
