Poland's Bank Millennium doubles quarterly profit as costs of Swiss franc loans fall

Banco Comercial Portugues SA

09/02/2026 06:45

GDANSK, Poland, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Poland's Bank Millennium MILP.WA, a subsidiary of Portugal's Millennium bcp BCP.LS, said on Monday its net profit doubled to 347 million zlotys ($97 million) in the fourth quarter, as lower costs for its Swiss franc loan portfolio helped offset weaker interest income.

The result beat the 330 million zlotys expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

With Poland's central bank having cut interest rates, investors are watching to see if cheaper credit will boost loan growth, and if larger demand can offset a squeeze in lenders' net interest margins.

The Polish central bank cut rates six times last year by a total of 175 basis points to 4.00%. The easing followed cooling inflation, which slowed to 2.4% in December, broadly in line with the regulator's target.

CONTEXT

Like other Polish lenders, Millennium's profitability has for years been weighed down by its legacy portfolio of Swiss franc mortgages. These loans, popular in the 2000s, became hugely expensive for borrowers to repay after the zloty weakened against the franc, triggering thousands of lawsuits that forced banks to book massive provisions.

Millennium said on Monday it had reduced its active foreign-currency mortgage book to less than 1% of total loans, a significant step in mitigating this historical risk.

BY THE NUMBERS

Net interest income, a key measure of income from lending, fell to 1.44 billion zlotys in the fourth quarter, both below the year-ago number and the prior quarter result, but in line with a Reuters poll forecast.

Total costs related to foreign-currency mortgages were 534 million zlotys in the quarter and 2.10 billion zlotys for the full year, down 26% from 2024.

($1 = 3.5619 zlotys)

(Reporting by Alicja Surdy, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((alicjaewa.surdy2@thomsonreuters.com,  +48 58 746 90 04))