Erste Group Bank (EBS) Q2 2026 (Media) earnings summary

Executive summary

• H1 net profit rose 18.6% to €1,975m, driven by strong loan growth and the first-time consolidation of Erste Bank Polska.

• Operating result increased 49.3% to €4,422m; operating income rose 40.4% to €7,959m, including €1,821m from Poland.

• Central Europe was presented as a growth engine, supported by productivity gains, entrepreneurship, nearshoring and continued convergence with Western Europe.

Financial highlights

• Customer loans grew 21.9% year over year to €282.7bn, including €41.4bn from Erste Bank Polska; deposits rose 27.9% to €323.7bn, including €59.3bn from Poland.

• Net interest income increased 42.3% to €5,386m and net fee and commission income rose 25.1% to €1,929m.

• Cost/income ratio improved to 44.4% from 47.7%; net interest margin was 2.6%, up from 2.3%.

• More than 193 capital-markets transactions were advised in H1, with a combined volume of €146bn; total taxes paid at group level amounted to €1bn.

Outlook and guidance

• The 2026 loan-volume target was raised to €290bn; loan growth of 6–8% and net interest income above €11bn are projected.

• 2026 outlook calls for ROTE above 20%, EPS growth above 20%, fee income of €4bn and a cost/income ratio below 45%.

• Net profit for the combined entity is forecast above €4bn; risk costs are expected at 25–30 bps, adjusted for Poland’s one-off ECL provision.

• Romania is expected to return to growth, contingent on stability and measures to manage its budget deficit; NPL ratio was expected at 2.3%–2.4% by year-end.

• A broadly flat interest-rate environment was expected absent material changes, while ECB decisions remained uncertain.