Portugal's Millennium bcp profit rises on resilient margins, lower charges in Poland

Bank Millennium SA

29/07/2026 17:34

LISBON, July 29 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest listed lender, Millennium bcp BCP.LS, beat first-half net profit forecasts on Wednesday as resilient lending income and sharply lower Swiss franc mortgage charges at its Polish unit helped offset the impact of ECB rate cuts.
Net profit rose 12.7% to €565.8 million ($643.9 million), above the average forecast of €427 million in an LSEG poll of analysts. Net income at its domestic business rose 11% to €470.2 million.
Net profit at its half-owned Polish unit, Millennium Bank MILP.WA, rose 39% to 708 million zlotys ($186 million) as charges related to its legacy Swiss franc mortgage portfolio, long a drag on earnings, fell 65% from a year earlier to just over 400 million zlotys.
Millennium bcp said consolidated net interest income (NII), a measure of earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 3.4% to €1.44 billion despite lower ECB and Polish interest rates than a year earlier.
Chief Executive Miguel Maya said the bank delivered strong results despite the lower-rate environment, with NII supported by robust growth in business volumes.
The ECB's deposit rate stood at 2.0% for most of the first half of 2026, compared with between 2.25% and 3.0% during much of the same period in 2025.
Poland's central bank cut its deposit rate to 3.25% by March 2026 from 5.25% a year earlier, marking a steeper easing cycle than the ECB's.
Consolidated fee and commission income increased 5.8% to €438 million.
Its cost-to-income ratio was flat at 37% in June.
Millennium bcp, which also operates in Mozambique and Angola, reduced total non-performing exposures by 11.5% year on year to €1.44 billion as of June.     
($1 = 3.8006 zlotys)
($1 = 0.8787 euros)

 (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves. Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters Messaging: sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net/))