DHB Bank to reduce its presence in Belgium
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 27, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026

Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 27, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026

DHB Bank will scale back its Belgian operations due to profitability issues, reflecting broader challenges faced by European banks amidst slow economic growth.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - DHB Bank will gradually reduce its presence in Belgium after concluding that the Belgian market is not profitable enough, it said on Monday, highlighting the challenges faced by European banks given the region's sluggish economic growth.
"Following an in-depth review, we have concluded that it is not possible in the long term to build up a substantial and profitable clientele on the Belgian market," said the Dutch-headquartered bank in a statement.
"This is why we have decided to gradually reduce our activities in Belgium," the Rotterdam-based bank added.
DHB Bank's decision follows a similar move by Spain's Santander to review its presence in Britain.
Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund forecast 2025 economic growth of 1.0% for the euro zone - less than its 2.7% growth forecast for the United States and 4.6% for China.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Louise Heavens)
DHB Bank has concluded that it is not possible to build a substantial and profitable clientele in the Belgian market, leading to the decision to gradually reduce its activities.
The in-depth review indicated that the Belgian market is not profitable enough for the bank to sustain its operations long-term.
DHB Bank's decision follows a similar move by Spain's Santander, which is also reviewing its presence in the British market.
The International Monetary Fund has forecasted a 1.0% economic growth for the euro zone in 2025, which is significantly lower than the growth forecasts for the United States and China.
The article was reported by Sudip Kar-Gupta, with editing by Louise Heavens.
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