Instabank (INSTA) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Record Q3 lending growth of NOK 959m (+9.5% QoQ) lifted gross loans to NOK 11,064m, up 35% LTM; all four lending segments grew.

• Profit before tax was NOK 55.1m, up 36% YoY; cost/income improved 6 pp to 36%, with 38 consecutive profitable quarters.

• German credit cards generated half of lending growth; excluding Q2’s NOK 11.8m provision release, Q3 PBT rose NOK 4.7m QoQ.

Financial highlights

• Total income reached NOK 230.7m, up 48% YoY; net interest income rose 37% to NOK 197.7m, while total interest income increased NOK 76.0m to NOK 299.5m.

• Operating expenses were NOK 83.4m, up 26% YoY; income grew NOK 74m while expenses rose NOK 17m.

• Profit after tax was NOK 41.4m in Q3; YTD profit after tax was NOK 120.7m, up 60% YoY. Q3 basic and diluted EPS were NOK 0.08.

• Net other income was NOK 33.0m, up NOK 20.8m YoY, primarily on higher German card commissions and fees; FX and securities gains fell to NOK 2.7m from NOK 9.3m QoQ.

Outlook and guidance

• 2026 guidance reiterated: lending growth of NOK 3.0–3.5bn and profit after tax of NOK 160–185m; FY outlook includes ~13% ROE and ~37% cost/income.

• First-nine-month lending growth was NOK 2,568m; gross loans guidance is NOK 11.5–12.0bn.

• 2030 ambitions: NOK 30bn gross loans, profit after tax above NOK 800m, ROE above 22% and cost/income below 30%; 2035 loan-book ambition is NOK 50bn. These are ambitions, not guidance.

• German cards remain the main growth engine; mortgage growth is expected to accelerate from Q4 after the October relaunch. Automation, AI and a new decision engine are intended to roughly double lending volume per employee.