After the publication of the results of Bank Handlowy and BNP Paribas BP on Thursday, only PKO BP and BOŚ Bank did not publish their results for the first quarter among the listed representatives of the sector. Commercial bank after the sale of the retail part, focusing on corporate clients, it earned net PLN 386 million, i.e by 11 percent less year to yearand profit BNP Paribas fell by as much as 49%. rdr up to PLN 375 million.
In both cases, there was a decline in interest income. In BNP Paribas by 9.3%. y/y, and in Bank Handlowy by 5.7 percent. This is a consequence of the reduction of interest rates by the Monetary Policy Council. At BNP Paribas, rate drops hit the market the hardest. The second best was Bank Pekao, where interest income decreased by 8.9%.
Both BNP and Handlowy saved interest profits by cutting deposit interest rates, because interest income dropped by “only” 3%. year to year in both cases. It was similar in other banks, i.e. a decrease in interest income was recommended by cutting interest on deposits. For example, Bank Millennium paid an average of 1.78% for deposits in 1Q26. interest rate compared to 2.24 percent. a year earlier.
There is a second pillar on which banks can base their results, less pleasant and more visible to customers. It's about bank commissions.
| net result | percent to consensus | change y/y | interest income | YoY change (percentage) | commission income | YoY change (percentage) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
mBank |
953.0 |
8.0% |
35.0% |
3437.0 |
-6.0 |
892 |
8.4 |
|
Commercial bank |
385.6 |
20.3% |
-11.4% |
718 |
-5.7 |
131 |
1.5 |
|
ING Bank Śląski |
823.0 |
-7.5% |
-18.8% |
3427.0 |
1.8 |
758 |
4.6 |
|
Bank Millennium |
300.8 |
11.4% |
67.8% |
2143.9 |
-5.5 |
288 |
15.6 |
|
Santander Bank Polska |
1027.7 |
1.1% |
-40.72% |
3421.9 |
-6.1 |
940 |
8.7 |
|
Alior Bank |
403.2 |
5.5% |
-15.3% |
1633 |
-7.7 |
303 |
6.5 |
|
Bank Pekao |
1232.0 |
5.1% |
-26.9% |
4470 |
-8.9 |
1081 |
14.6 |
|
BNP Paribas Bank Polska |
375.3 |
25.8% |
-49.4% |
2280.2 |
-9.3 |
378 |
-3.2 |
Commissions up
In addition to reducing deposit interest rates, banks were looking for a solution by increasing commission income, mainly from the sale of financial instruments. That is, apart from BNP Paribas BP, because in its case these revenues decreased by 3.2%. rdr.
However, the bank explains this by the lack of large one-off loan commissions and in the area of mergers and acquisitions, so it is not about ordinary account servicing commissions. However, commissions on the sale of BNP Paribas BP and brokerage investment products increased.
The largest increase in commission income, by as much as 15.6%. YoY noted, however Bank Millennium. Similarly to BNP Paribas, there is an increase in profit from commissions, mainly on investment products and insurance sales. The net commission income from account servicing decreased year-on-year.
It was second in terms of growth in commission income Bank Pekao. Revenues from this increased by 14.6%. rdr. The bank explains that it mainly concerns commissions from asset management and brokerage services. Profit on them increased by as much as 28.5%. y/y to PLN 221 million. However, the results from commissions on account management also increased significantly by 12.3%. y/y to PLN 164 million.
Significant increases in commission income were also recorded by: Erste BP (+8.7% y/y) i mBank (+8.4% y/y).
Only two banks without a drop in profits
mBank and Bank Millennium are the only banks that recorded increases in profits despite the unfavorable environment for banks – declines in market interest rates and related margins. In the case of Bank Millennium, the net result increased by as much as 67.8%. y/y to PLN 301 million, and in mBank – by 35%. y/y to PLN 953 million.
In case Millenniumdecrease in interest income by 5.5%. YoY was compensated by lower interest on deposits, which resulted in the interest income decreasing by only 2.3%. However, commission income increased by 11.8%. But this would not be enough to increase the net result year on year. Several factors helped here.
The first one is increasing the number of customers by 150 thousand up to PLN 3,313 million. The second one is improved loan repayment and the resulting decrease in risk costs. At the end of March, there were only 3.7% of non-performing loans. compared to 4.5 percent a year earlier. And the third reason is decreasing costs of solving the cases of Swiss franc borrowers. The bank concluded PLN 31,000. settlements, and 13.9 thousand were resolved in court. 15.4 thousand he's still in court. The costs related to the foreign currency loan portfolio decreased to PLN 212 million in 1Q26 compared to PLN 548 million a year earlier.
In case mBank the increase in net profit was determined by an increase in commission income by 14.5%. rdr. The result from commissions on currency transactions increased to PLN 131 million from PLN 116 million a year earlier.
One-off factors were decisive here: initial revenue of PLN 43.0 million from new contracts signed with Uniqa in 2Q25 and the positive effect of PLN 41.6 million of settlements with the card organization in 3Q25.
