Erste Group Bank (EBS) Q1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Consolidation of Erste Bank Polska drove significant growth in revenue, assets, and net profit in Q1 2026, with integration costs of EUR 30 million recognized.

• Net profit for Q1 2026 reached up to EUR 944 million, up 18.2% year-over-year, despite a sequential decline due to seasonality.

• Operating profit excluding Polska/EBP set a new record, supported by robust NII, fee growth, and trading results.

• Integration and one-off effects from the Polish acquisition impacted results but are expected to fade in coming quarters.

• Guidance for 2026 is fully confirmed, with targets for loan growth, NII, fee income, and cost efficiency reaffirmed.

Financial highlights

• Net interest income (excluding Polska/EBP) up 6.5% year-over-year; including Poland, NII increased 42.8% to EUR 2,674 million.

• Net fee income (excluding Polska/EBP) up 7.3% year-over-year; including Poland, fee income grew 23.7% to EUR 965 million.

• Cost/income ratio improved to 45.0%, in line with guidance.

• Customer loans (including Polska/EBP) up 18.8% year-to-date to EUR 275 billion; deposits up 24.4% to EUR 314.8 billion.

• NPL ratio stable at 2.4%; NPL coverage at up to 69.7%.

Outlook and guidance

• 2026 guidance confirmed: NII above EUR 11 billion, fee income around EUR 4 billion, costs about EUR 7 billion, and cost/income ratio at 45%.

• Loan growth target of more than 5% ex Polska/EBP, with total loan stock expected to exceed EUR 285 billion by year-end.

• Risk cost guidance of 25–30 bps (including Polska/EBP, excluding one-off effects) maintained.

• Return on tangible equity targeted at around 19%, with EPS growth above 20% (adjusted for extraordinary items).

• Adjusted net profit for 2026 projected above EUR 4 billion.