Novo Banco announced largely stable profits for the first nine months of the year, reporting USD 661.7 million, even as it underscored a significant strategic acquisition by French banking group BPCE that is moving towards completion.
The Portuguese lender’s profit represents a marginal increase of just USD 108,400 compared to the same period last year, according to a statement released Thursday to the Capital Markets Commission.
This financial stability provides a backdrop for the ongoing sale of the Portuguese state’s stake to France’s BPCE Group. The acquisition reached a new milestone “yesterday” with the signing of the sale contract.
Mark Bourke, Novo Banco’s CEO, emphasized that the BPCE transaction is progressing through regulatory channels. Both parties are aiming for a first-half 2026 completion.
Bourke stated the deal will “strengthen our capacity to innovate, grow and support Portuguese families and businesses.” He added that the bank’s results “reinforce the robustness of our business model.”
Despite the steady overall profit, the bank’s financial margin saw a 6.5% decline to USD 898.8 million, USD 62.1 million less than the previous year. Novo Banco attributed this drop partly to a 4.8% increase in the average value of customer loans.
An “assertive hedging strategy” helped offset a significant 154 basis point fall in the average six-month Euribor rate compared to the same period last year, maintaining a financial margin rate of 2.67%.
Banking income increased by 1% to USD 1.27 billion. Commercial banking income dipped 2.8% to USD 1.19 billion. Meanwhile, commissions surged 10.7% to USD 288.5 million.
The Cost-to-Income ratio rose from 33.2% to 35.1%. The bank noted that excluding extraordinary costs associated with the sale process, this ratio would have been 33.7%.