Belgian banking and insurance group KBC reported a 39 per cent rise in second-quarter underlying profit on the back of higher interest and fee income.
KBC's underlying net profit for April-June was €880 million, against €634 million in the same period last year and the average forecast of €744 million.
KBC said net interest income rose 7 per cent year-on-year and that fee and commission income went up 14 per cent. In its outlook, KBC said July had been "encouraging".
The firm reported a 28 per cent rise in underlying net profit for its Belgian operations to €417 million, beating expectations, while in Central and Eastern Europe net was also above expectations at €177 million.
Merchant banking came in at €241 million, down 10 per cent year-on-year, while the European Private Banking division posted a better-than-expected rise of 10 per cent.
KBC said that its exposure to the US subprime market via credit-linked investments was small.