BankingBrief
mBank lifts third-quarter profit 29.6 per cent to PLN 1,085 million
Legal risk costs on foreign-currency loans fell to PLN 78 million, and the common equity tier 1 ratio stands at 12.75 per cent.
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mBank's net profit rose to PLN 1,085 million in the third quarter of 2026 from PLN 837 million a year earlier, the Polish lender said in its results presentation of 28 October, as the cost of legal risk on its foreign-currency loans fell.
The presentation puts the rise at 29.6 per cent. For the first nine months net profit was PLN 3,098 million, up 23.8 per cent from PLN 2,502 million. The slide on profit is headed "Strong improvement in profit thanks to a major reduction in legal risk costs", in the Polish original, and one of its charts carries an assumed dividend payout ratio of 30 per cent.
Legal risk costs on foreign-currency loans were PLN 78 million in the quarter, against PLN 124 million in the second quarter, when net profit was PLN 1,060 million, according to the bank's quarterly report. The presentation shows PLN 275 million for the nine months, 83 per cent less than a year earlier. For comparison, PKO Bank Polski said it would book PLN 371 million of legal risk costs in its own third quarter, so mBank's quarterly charge is about a fifth of that figure.
Gross loans were PLN 164.4 billion at 30 September, up 17.7 per cent in a year from PLN 139.7 billion, and customer deposits were PLN 254.7 billion, up 19.0 per cent from PLN 214.0 billion. Total assets were PLN 307,378 million, the report says. Return on equity was 17.6 per cent for the quarter. The cost of risk was 0.67 per cent in the third quarter and 0.46 per cent for the year to date.
The common equity tier 1 ratio was 12.75 per cent at 30 September, 3.30 percentage points above the 9.45 per cent requirement shown in the presentation, and the total capital ratio was 15.30 per cent. The capital slide describes the buffers as comfortable and above the regulatory minimums.
The Polish financial site xyz.pl reported on 28 October that the profit was close to analysts' expectations, which ranged from PLN 1.06 billion to PLN 1.2 billion. The presentation gives no dividend decision; it says the bank is on the path to resuming dividends, subject to the criteria of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), and the 30 per cent payout is an assumption on a chart. For 2026 it expects legal risk costs not to be a major burden, volumes to grow faster than the market, total revenues about 2 per cent above 2025 and a cost-to-income ratio below 33 per cent. Elsewhere in the region, Komerční banka's nine-month result and Türkiye's bank liquidity rules are covered here.