Commerzbank lifts nine-month operating profit to record €4.04 billion

The Tip Desk · November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Operating profit reached €4,037 million in the first nine months of 2026, 17.3% above the prior-year period, as net commission income rose 8.3% to €3,250 million.

Commerzbank (CBK), the German universal bank, increased operating profit in the first nine months of 2026 by 17.3%, or €595 million, to €4,037 million, which the bank described as the best nine-month result in its history. Consolidated profit attributable to shareholders rose 41.4% to €2,669 million, with earnings of €2.25 a share versus €1.44 a year earlier. The bank said the positive earnings performance was driven by higher operating income, including a significant drop in provisions for retail mortgage financing issued in foreign currencies at mBank, and substantially lower restructuring expenses.

Net interest income was €6,222 million, slightly above €6,177 million a year earlier. Corporate Clients net interest income increased from €1,848 million to €1,964 million, driven in particular by growth in the lending business. Private and Small-Business Customers net interest income rose from €3,539 million to €3,587 million; Germany benefited from the replication portfolio, while mBank’s higher lending and deposit volumes were insufficient to offset the decline in margins from falling Polish interest rates.

Net commission income rose 8.3% to €3,250 million, mainly from stronger German securities business, higher payment-transaction income after the new pricing model, credit-card fees, mBank customer activity, and Corporate Clients bond issuance, guarantees and payments. Private and Small-Business Customers net commission income increased 9.6% to €2,154 million; Corporate Clients net commission income rose 5.0% to €1,110 million.

Private and Small-Business Customers operating profit rose 38.8%, or €683 million, to €2,441 million, on higher German customer-business income and substantially lower mBank foreign-currency retail mortgage provisions. Corporate Clients operating profit was €1,597 million, €31 million below the prior-year €1,628 million, as higher lending and transaction-banking income was offset by a higher risk result and higher expenses. Others and Consolidation reported an operating loss of €2 million versus an operating profit of €56 million a year earlier.

The Group risk result was €–554 million versus €–515 million a year earlier, driven predominantly by Corporate Clients defaults and higher loan-loss provisions. Corporate Clients risk result was €–395 million versus €–289 million; Private and Small-Business Customers improved to €–188 million from €–218 million. Non-performing exposures were 1.2% as at 30 September 2026.

Operating expenses were €4,904 million versus €4,858 million, with higher salary, shoring/sourcing, technology/AI and mBank growth costs offset by active cost management, lower share-based variable remuneration and reduced administrative expenses. Compulsory contributions were €222 million versus €215 million. The cost/income ratio excluding compulsory contributions improved to 50.5% from 53.8% and including compulsory contributions to 52.8% from 56.2%. Restructuring expenses related to the Momentum strategy fell to €1 million from €553 million in the prior-year period.

The Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 14.2% at 30 September 2026 versus 14.7% at year-end 2025, as risk-weighted assets rose €4.5 billion to €180.3 billion and CET1 capital fell €0.3 billion to €25.6 billion; the leverage ratio was 4.3%. The bank launched a new share buyback of up to €1.2 billion on 4 September 2026 and cancelled 46,649,100 own shares, about 4.14% of share capital, in August 2026. Average deposit volumes in the third quarter of 2026 were positive or almost stable versus the second quarter: private and small-business customers €226 billion and Corporate Clients €104 billion.