Bank Millennium expects Swiss mortgage costs to drop

GDANSK (Reuters) -Bank Millennium expects the funds required to cover risks related to Swiss franc mortgages it had previously sold to ease this year, deputy CEO Fernando Bicho told reporters on Tuesday.

Separately, CEO Joao Bras Jorge said a recent slowdown in mortgages in the bank's domestic market was largely seasonal and caused by weak market demand. He expects growth in that market to resume in the coming quarters.

New sales of mortgage loans fell from 789 million zlotys in the first quarter to 577 million zlotys in the second quarter, but Jorge said a pick-up was likely in 2025, assuming a more favourable economic climate.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Bank Millennium is Poland's seventh-largest lender by total assets and the Polish arm of Portugal's Millennium bcp.

BY THE NUMBERS

Bank Millennium reported second-quarter net profit of 331.5 million zlotys ($90.1 million), surpassing the 270 million zlotys forecast in a Reuters poll, boosted by a strong performance at its core business.

The lender's second-quarter net interest income reached 1.45 billion zlotys, against the average forecast 1.44 billion zlotys from analysts polled by Reuters. Net fee and commission income came in at 188 million zlotys, compared with expectations of 187 million zlotys.

Provisions for legal risks relating to the mortgages fell 10% in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier and stood at 920 million zlotys ($249 million) at the end of the period, the bank said.

KEY CONTEXT

Initially appealing to borrowers in the 2000s due to low interest rates, Swiss franc loans have become a significant burden for the sector as repayment costs surged following the zloty's depreciation and Swiss interest rate hikes.

This has led to widespread legal disputes, pressuring Polish banks to offer settlements and book substantial provisions, weighing on their results for years.

Poland’s central bank unexpectedly cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 5% at the beginning of July, having already implemented a 50-basis-point reduction in May.

($1 = 3.6776 zlotys)

(Reporting by Marta Maciag; Additional reporting by Rafal Nowak and Adrianna Ebert;Editing by Matt Scuffham)