Fortis Consolidates its Position in the Low Countries


Fortis, the Belgium/Netherlands based financial services group, has denied rumours that it is on the point of merging with another European financial services group. The denial was a response to reports that it may be negotiating with any of a number of other groups including the UK bank Lloyds-TSB and Credit Suisse of Switzerland. However, the group has not ruled out a merger with a company of similar size and standing at some time in the future.

Fortis, which is the largest bank in Belgium and offers factoring and related services, claims that its current focus is on consolidating its position in its Low Countries home market and also on integrating its banking division. During the last ten years Fortis has acquired seven Benelux based banks and from 2003, when they are due to be fully integrated into the group, these are expected to contribute €900 billion to group pre-tax profits.



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