Poland's mBank expects double-digit growth in loan portfolio next year

By Anna Koper

WARSAW, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Poland's mBank MBK.WA, a unit of Germany's Commerzbank , expects its corporate and retail loan portfolio to grow at a double-digit rate in 2027, the company's Chief Financial Officer Pascal Ruhland told Reuters on Wednesday.

The bank reported a 29.6% rise in its third-quarter profit, meeting market expectations, as loan portfolio growth and lower costs of Swiss franc mortgage lawsuitsoffset the bank tax hike aimed at funding defence spending. Gross loans grew 6.5% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter.

"Our economists expect high single-digit growth rates next year on the corporate as well as on the retail loan side. And what we expect from us is outperforming that; that means double-digit", Ruhland said.

The bank reported a cost of risk — the amount it sets aside to cover expected loan losses — of 67 basis points in the third quarter, compared with 61 basis points a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2026, it stood at 46 basis points, down from 52 basis points a year earlier. It expects the cost of risk to reach around 80 basis points from 2026 to 2030.

"For the next year, we assume something around 70 basis points cost of risk. If the economy is doing very well, we will be below, and if the economy is doing worse, then we will be slightly above and through the cycle," Ruhland said.

"We don't see any deterioration in the portfolio," he added.

The company said it planned to pay 30% of 2026 net profit as dividends and gradually increase the payout level to 75% in 2030. The bank, which has not paid a dividend since 2018, has been constrained by a Polish regulator over its large portfolio of Swiss franc mortgages.

"I don't see any risk that would stop us from paying (a) dividend from 2026 net profit ... It's also our intention to pay (a) regular dividend every single year," Ruhland also said.