Banco Comercial Português, S.A.

BCP reported first-half net income of EUR 565.8 million, up 12.7% year on year. In Portugal, net income was EUR 470.2 million, up almost 11%; international operations net income rose to EUR 183.5 million, up over 25%. Group loans increased 8.3% year on year to EUR 65.2 billion and total customer funds rose 9.8% to EUR 116.7 billion. CET1 stood at 15.1%, total capital ratio at 19.3%, the NPE ratio fell to 2.2%, and cost of risk was 32 bps. Management guided to low-teens NII growth in Portugal, mid-single-digit fee growth, cost growth around 5%, and said the full-year effective tax rate in Portugal should be around 24% to 26%.

Miguel Maya framed the half as evidence that the bank’s relationship model and digital franchise are working across Portugal, Poland and Mozambique. He emphasized resilience in a difficult macro backdrop, saying the group is combining technology, a physical branch network and disciplined risk management to keep winning customers and support growth. His tone was confident and strategic, repeatedly saying the bank is progressing well toward its 2028 targets and likely to overdeliver unless geopolitics deteriorate.

Miguel de Bragança focused on the income statement and capital generation, noting NII rose 11%+ in Portugal, fees grew 6% consolidated, operating costs rose 5.4%, and cost-to-income stayed at 37%. He said the CHF charge in Poland fell by more than 60%, helped net income grow almost 13%, and highlighted book value per share and dividend per share up almost 20% and RoTE/EPS up almost 15%. On capital, he said organic generation is around 55 to 60 bps per quarter, with about 20 bps expected from securitizations, while CET1/total capital remained comfortably above requirements.

Analysts pressed on whether lending growth was slowing, how durable the low-teens Portugal NII guidance is, and whether the 90% payout target could be missed. Management said Portuguese mortgage growth should decelerate somewhat, corporate/SME growth could improve, and NII guidance is based on latest forward rates but is not very rate-sensitive. They also stressed that 90% payout is not an objective in itself; if genuine customer growth needs capital, they will not restrain lending just to preserve the payout ratio. Other questions covered fee growth, deposit competition, cost inflation, and Poland litigation; management said fees should still land in mid-single digits, deposit pricing is not being forced higher by funding needs, and Poland remains exposed to new litigation-type costs after the CHF case winds down.