Santander Bank Polska Sa

Good morning. My name is Agnieszka Doryska. I'm responsible for investor relations at Santander One Poland. I'd like to welcome you to the presentation of our financial results after the third quarter of 2024. Today's presentation will be delivered by our CEO, Michal Gajewski, Maciej Reliwa, CFO, and Wojciech Skalski, Head of Accounting and Financial Control Division. However, before we start, let me remind you that you can ask questions via the link online and you can also send questions directly to my email address. And now let me give the floor to the CEO. Thank you, Agnieszka. Good morning once again. Welcome back. at the presentation of our financial results. However, let me start with a short comment on our aid addressed to customers affected by the flood in the south of Poland. As I have always highlighted, we treat our mission of helping our customers in important matters seriously. That is why we launched support to customers as one of the first banks both in the form of sectoral moratoria and requests to the borrower's support fund, which, let me tell you as a reminder, is financed by banks. We are also ready to launch non-standard solutions tailored to situations of individual businesses. We also donated 1.5 million zlots on the equipment needed for recovery from flood, including one million slots from the bank and half a million from donations. This has been our second charity campaign this quarter, and we have also donated over 1.5 million slots to support pediatric oncology centers, including one million as a donation from the bank. We can see that the scale of losses caused by the flood among our customers is lower than we initially assumed. And we received 75 requests for moratorium from individual customers, three requests from business customers, and 56 requests under the borrower support fund. So the impact on the provisions Related to that will be minor. Going back to our performance, briefly speaking, after three quarters, we generated the gross profit of 5.8 billion. And in quarter three alone, the gross profit was 2.6 billion slots. At the same time, the tax burden after three quarters was 2.3 billion slots. And the regulatory costs amounted to 284 million slots. So in total, it's over $2.6 billion. And if you look at our gross profit, the version equals to our performance in quarter three. So let's move on to slide seven. In this slide, you can see the general operational data The number of digital customers has been growing. Currently, we have 4.5 million digital customers in the group, including 3.5 million mobile banking customers. The number of digital customers in the bank grew by almost 7% year-on-year, and mobile banking customers by 12%. Customer deposits grew by 4%. And the gross loans portfolio year-on-year grew by 8% to nearly 200 billion zlots, 198 to be exact. After it grew by 5%, customer funds totaled 241 billion zlots, growing by 6% year-on-year. Slide 8 refers to key financial results. So after three quarters, the net profit was 4.3 billion zlots. And in quarter three alone, the net profit was $1,939,000,000. Net interest income after three quarters was $10,249,000,000, and increased by 6% year-on-year. Excluding the impact of the payment holidays, the pace of growth was 7%. In quarter three alone, the net interest income was $3.6 billion, and it grew by 5% versus the same period a year ago. The net free income was $2,184,000,000, lots and group by 9% year on year. In Q3, it was $727,000,000 and was higher by 9% when compared to the same period of 2023. Total income was $12.7 billion, lots and group by 7% year on year. You can see our capital position. which remains high. Return on equity for the group is 20.5%. We can boast excellent liquidity with the LCR at 206%. Slides 10 to 12 show general information about individual segments and new products for our customers. So maybe let's go to slide 13. which includes selected business data. So let's start with the retail. We have 4.7 million accounts for individual customers, up by 5% year on year. In quarter three, we opened 125,000 personal accounts in Polish slaughter, which is a good pace of growth when compared to quarter two. So the growth was 13%. During three quarters, we sold mortgage loans worth $9.3 billion, and in quarter three alone, we sold mortgage loans worth $2.2 billion. Ninety-five percent of the portfolio was based on an adjustable fixed rate, so the total share of loans with adjustable fixed rate for five years in the entire portfolio PLN mortgage loan portfolio grew to nearly 40%, 39.5% to be exact. In Q3, granted cash loans were 3 billion zlots, up by 2.5% versus the previous quarter and 27% more than in Q3 2023.

So we can see that we are growing steadily.

Also, when it comes to our remote channels, net investment fund sales was 1.5 billion lots, and retail assets of Santander TFI at the end of quarter two were 22.7 billion lots. Our market share increased to 10.8%. In the SME segment, we have also excellent performance. We opened 18.3 thousand business accounts in quarter three, much more than quarter two. And by 18% more than in quarter three, 2023. And this year we have opened over 50,000 accounts for SMEs already. When it comes to loans, two SMEs, the total amount of loans was 1.3 billion zlot. After three quarters, the total amount of loans granted is 4 billion zlot, so the sales in this segment is very good. Also, when it comes to leasing products, 3.1 billion zlot, up by 11% year-on-year. In business and corporate banking, thanks to development of our digital solutions, the number of our mobile customers grew and we have a very good growth when it comes to credit income up by 7% year on year and very good FX income growing by 13%. In corporate and business banking, we have a double-digit, very strong growth in the M&A segment. And income from capital market services also grew, trade finance as well. We recorded a growth of 26% year-on-year. So that's a very good quarter for our CIB segment. So now the balance sheet, growth, loans, slide 15. At the consolidated level, 8% growth year-on-year and 2% growth quarter-on-quarter.

Customer funds, slide number 16. I already mentioned the growth in deposits by 4% to more than $218 billion loss. Year-on-year, the deposits grew by $7.7 billion loss. In this case, we saw a clear growth in retail deposits, nearly 10 billion slots, while we saw a decline in corporate deposits by over 2 billion slots. Profit and loss account, slide 17, net interest income and margin. 3.6 billion in net interest income in quarter. That's a growth by 9% compared to the previous quarter. Year-on-year, the Net interest income increased by 3%, while interest expense declined by 3%. Net interest margin for quarter three was 5.37%. As we were actually announcing before at previous publications of the results, our margin has been stable. Now let's move to slide number 18, net fee income. Over three quarters, the net income totaled $2.2 billion, growing by 9% year-on-year. This growth was primarily fueled by the increased activity levels of our customers. So we saw the growth in ethics fees, brokerage fees, asset management fees. Year-on-year, we also So good growth in asset management fees and insurance fees, which grew by 22% year-on-year, and brokerage fees, which grew by 20%. Quarter-on-quarter really sound performance when it comes to credit fees, which grew by 9%, card fees, which grew 3%, and insurance fees, which grew by 4%. So good, solid performance. driven by higher activity levels of our customers. And that's reflected here in the net fee income. Sky 19 income. After three quarters, total income was $12.7 billion, growing by 7% year-on-year. If we exclude the so-called payment holidays, the total income would have grown by 8% year-on-year and 4% in quarter three compared to quarter two. Slide number 20, operating costs. After three quarters, they totaled over $3 billion, growing by 9%. And the key growth drivers were banking guarantee funds contributions. Let me remind you that we paid $250 million in those contributions compared to the last year. That was a big growth because last year it was $175 million lost. Excluding the contribution, the cost of contributions, the banking guarantee funds contributions Total costs increased by 8% compared to the previous year, driven primarily by inflation, salaries review, and IT costs. Staff costs increased by 9% year-on-year. And this is the result of the salaries review and what is happening on the market when it comes to the staff cost pressure. As we emphasized a number of times, our salary review is not one of exercise. This is... benchmarking exercise that we do every year. We compare our salaries to the sectors for banks or services. Administrative expenses, excluding the regulatory costs, grew by 8% year-on-year. The operational effectiveness ratio, that is the cost-to-income ratio, after three quarters was 30%. Client number 21, credit provisions. The net balance of provisions after three quarters totaled $908 million. And in quarter three alone, it was $297 million. The cost of credit risk has been stable, oscillating around 70 basis points. The net balance of provisions after three quarters is close to what we saw in the corresponding period last year. In quarter three, we didn't see witness any major important events when it comes to changes in methodology, models, or parameters used to calculate provisions. In September, downgraded a major corporate exposure to the non-performing portfolio. It impacted the share of NPLs in the total portfolio, but this share is still under 5%. The quality of our portfolios, in my opinion, is sound. And the key risk factor has been stable. Slide number 22, banking tax. Regulatory costs. The regulatory levels levies were big. And on top of that, we had the cost of legal risk of $1.6 billion. Slide 23, summary. As I said, we are showing here also the cost of legal risk. And after three quarters, as I said, it was 1.6 billion zlots. But of course, summing up this quarter, from the business perspective, sales perspective, it was a really good quarter. We met our... And I think that this quarter and all the three quarters were really good for us. After quarter two, there were many question marks when it comes to the credit volumes and continued growth. But this quarter confirmed that this is a trend. We are growing faster than the market. We are developing our business model. We improve customer experience, and the quality that we offer is something that our customers like, so we can see good results. Now the floor is yours. Let's go to the questions and answer sessions.

We have already received a couple of questions, so I grouped them. Maybe Swiss francs first, or margins?

Let's start with margins, maybe, and you can answer this question.

And I will refer to Swiss francs. OK, so we have a few questions about net interest margin.

So we could see an excellent growth in net interest margin. Can it be sustained in the next period? And there was a question about sensitivity of net interest margin and the general outlook on interest rate cuts, given the speech of the NBP governor that signaled interest rate cuts in Q2 2025. So four questions about that. So let's start with the outlook, maybe.

Well, it's a matter of time when the first interest rate cuts take place. We have certain scenarios of net interest margin.

We can expect the first interest rate cuts even in March after the forecast. But given the growing inflation and also retail sales data because we have some signals of solid economic growth and then some data saying otherwise. So the GDP will be 3.5% and the first interest rate cuts will take place rather in the middle of the year. But we cannot exclude any scenario. So if we are offering certain deposit rates for longer tenants, we should take all the risks into account. And we expect 100 basis point cut next year. And as we communicated before, the impact on margins and hedged interest rates, that share grew by 6 basis points. So the impact on net interest margin

is between 10 and 20 basis points. And that's it, I think. Of course, we assume that the

interest rate effect will be offset by the growth in volume, which was quite solid recently, and there are also questions about that.

Okay, Swiss francs now. Why we have such a low level? What part of that portfolio will require more provisions? In our opinion, this level is adequate. I don't think it's low. It's just adequate. This is actually a follow-up of our models. The additional provisions we created this quarter were related to legal costs and settlements which we made because we've nearly made 12,000 settlements with our clients. If I understand the question well, we split the portfolio into the active and non-active part. And the non-active part is the paid back portfolio. And there is a small percentage of lawsuits when it comes to this part of the mortgage portfolio. So as I said, there is just a fraction of people finding losses if their agreements have been paid back. Of course, we will have a review in quarter four, and we will see how the situation evolves. And depending on that, we will adjust our provisions. a question. But PKLBP and its strategy assumed a very aggressive role in the number of clients. How are you going to defend your customers to fight for them? I am a bit confused because I don't know whether you really listened to what I've been saying. We are not defending ourselves against anything. We are growing. We, of course, have to compete hard, but We do not expect any declines in the number of our customers. Our business model, as you can see, our strategy work. Of course, we will be adjusting and aligning it to customer needs on an ongoing basis. We think that our edge is the customer experience that we offer, the value that we offer to customers. And we think that business model and the solutions will actually bring us sustainable growth, both in terms of the number of customers we have and the growth in our profitability of our market. Do we see any possibility to expand this called payment holidays? to operate it to the customers who are distressed. But of course, this is my opinion, but I think this is quite obvious that there will be no, so these actions will not be continued. I'm talking about state interference in the contractual relationship with banks. Together, as a sector, together with the Polish Bank Association, we will be actually talking to regulators about payment holidays. This is something offered by all banks as a product. And this is something that when the Borough Support Fund is used. And this is the adequate solution for those customers who expect support. What was the impact of the program simulating the sales of mortgage loans? It was very low. The weaker sales and quoted fee is also the follow-up of customers' expectations. when it comes to the new support program. As you might know, the program is still being under discussion, and there are differences and different views in the coalition. And that is why customers are also awaiting for their final solution to be announced, to find out how much support they can get when they're buying a real estate. But in quarter three, indeed, the sales was weaker and we can see that there is uncertainty on the market. This is also reflected in the actions taken by developers. Let me remind you the data for the previous quarters. On slide number 25, you can see the sales quarter on quarter of mortgages and quarter one, the share of the 2% saved mortgage loan accounted for 76% of sales. In quarter two, it accounted for 23.3% and in quarter three, it was nil. So overall, it was not major.

Continuing on volumes,

The growth in corporate segment, can it be continued in subsequent quarters on 2025? Well, we are optimistic here with our momentum is on the roll. Last year, we invested a lot also in the digital solutions for that customer segment. We invested in developing the skills of our bankers when it comes to products, for example. And we built the value that is now being leveraged. And that's reflected both in our growth in the number of our customers and in the acquisition of new customers. So we are very happy with this. As we were saying before, We do not compromise on risk or our returns when it comes to sales of these loans. We really have a good offer on the market and that's appreciated by the customer because we really resolve their issues. We respond to their needs and we can see that we are growing faster than the market. And our ambition is to grow more in this segment. And of course, the recovery funds and all those investments that we hope will kick off, the public investments will also trigger the growth in private investments. So we would rather expect the acceleration in that growth.

And there is one more question about our strategy on the settlements in Swiss francs.

But I believe that you referred to that at the beginning. And there is a group of questions about NPL. So why the growth in NPL in quota 3 by 30 basis points? will the NPL ratio remain below 5%? And the reason, well, we had a downgrade in the corporate segment. And that's why the growth in NPLs. And that exposure is on lower coverage. But we are at the safe level below 5%, and we think that it will stay at that level. Yes, it will stay at that level, meaning that we will not exceed 5%. OK, so I think that we referred to all the questions, unless we missed something. But I don't think so. No, I think that those were all the questions, so we answered to all of them. If you have any more questions, In the meantime, please contact us. Thank you.