◆ Inside the Latest Quarter (H1 2026)

PKO Bank Polski (PKO) — the variant view

Profit before tax rose 19,9 percent, the tax charge rose 67,4 percent, and net profit rose 3,1 — the entire gap is the new rate.

📈 PKO valuation, revenue & earnings — P/E, P/S, revenue, EPS →

PKO's half-year report was published on 13 August 2026, reviewed by its auditors, and it is the cleanest illustration of this company available.

H1 2026, reported 13 August5 290m złnet profit, +3,1%19,3%return on equity4,47%margin, from 4,91%608bn złtotal assetsPre-tax profit +19,9%, tax +67,4%, and interest income down 1 213m zł
Two things happened at once: the tax rate rose eleven points and the margin fell forty-four basis points. Only the first is temporary.

The bank did well. Profit before tax rose 19,9% to 8 319 million złoty1. Customer savings grew 12,9% and financing 13,9%, taking total assets past 608 448 million złoty with the customer base at 12,6 million2. Return on equity was 19,3% and return on assets 1,9%3. Cost of credit risk fell to 0,29% from 0,35%4. The common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 15,55%5. In the second quarter alone net profit was about 2,8 billion złoty, up 4,0% year on year and 9,8% on the first quarter, with return on equity of 19,2% against 17,3% in Q16.

Then the tax line. The charge rose 67,4% to 3 029 million złoty, because corporate income tax on Polish commercial banks went from 19% to 30% on 1 January7. Net profit rose 3,1% to 5 290 million8.

Two other things moved the wrong way, and both are structural rather than one-off.

The interest margin fell to 4,47% from 4,91% — down 44 basis points — as the National Bank of Poland cut rates, and interest income itself fell 1 213 million złoty9. Volume growth of nearly 14% is currently more than covering it, which is why net interest income has held up; the question the second half asks is how long that continues.

And the cost-to-income ratio rose to 31,4% from 29,8%10, with administrative expenses growing faster than income — Polish wage inflation reaching a bank with 26 252 employees11.

The Swiss franc line, for once, behaved: an addition of 685 million złoty following an update of the legal risk model parameters12, far below the 4 365 million charged across 202513.

Set against the five-year record the half looks better still. Net profit was 3 312 million złoty for the whole of 2022 and return on equity 9,6%14; the first six months of 2026 alone produced 5 290 million at 19,3%15. This is a bank that has roughly tripled its earnings in four years while the charges that suppressed them ran off.

The half is therefore a fair summary of the whole company. The banking is excellent and getting better, the margin is falling and being outrun by volume, and the largest single change in what shareholders receive was made in parliament.

The number to carry forward is the gap between the two profit lines: 19,9% against 3,1%. Sixteen points of it is a tax rate.

References
  1. ReportedProfit before tax rose 19,9% to 8 319 million złoty.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedCustomer savings grew 12,9% and financing 13,9%, taking total assets past 608 448 million złoty with the customer base at 12,6 million.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedReturn on equity was 19,3% and return on assets 1,9%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedCost of credit risk fell to 0,29% from 0,35%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 15,55%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  6. Moat Explorer calcIn the second quarter alone net profit was about 2,8 billion złoty, up 4,0% year on year and 9,8% on the first quarter, with return on equity of 19,2% against 17,3% in Q1.
    Moat Explorer calculation - arithmetic on figures PKO reports: the Swiss franc charge as a share of net profit (4 365 over 10 682), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 against 247 572 over 25 657), current accounts as a share of customers (9 764 over 12 460), deposits less financing (460 722 less 315 953), and the levy against fee income (1 349 over 5 243), credit losses excluding legal risk (5 859 less 4 365 = 1 494), the income mix (24 223 and 5 243 over 30 370 = 79,8% and 17,3%), net profit growth (10 682 against 9 304 = 14,8%), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 = 12,0m), and customers against Poland's population (12,46m of 37,33m) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedThe charge rose 67,4% to 3 029 million złoty, because corporate income tax on Polish commercial banks went from 19% to 30% on 1 January.
    Polish corporate income tax on banks - the amendment signed by the president on 27 November 2025 and in force from 1 January 2026, raising the rate on commercial banks from 19% to 30% for 2026, then 26% in 2027 and 23% in 2028, with the asset-based bank levy falling from 0,0366% to 0,0329% and 0,0293%; framed by the finance ministry as social justice and as financing defence needs, criticised by the sector as discriminatory, and estimated to raise about 6,5bn złoty in 2026 — 2026-2028 · publ. November 2025 · source ↗
  8. ReportedNet profit rose 3,1% to 5 290 million.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedThe interest margin fell to 4,47% from 4,91% — down 44 basis points — as the National Bank of Poland cut rates, and interest income itself fell 1 213 million złoty.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedAnd the cost-to-income ratio rose to 31,4% from 29,8%, with administrative expenses growing faster than income — Polish wage inflation reaching a bank with 26 252 employees.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  11. ReportedAnd the cost-to-income ratio rose to 31,4% from 29,8%, with administrative expenses growing faster than income — Polish wage inflation reaching a bank with 26 252 employees.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedThe Swiss franc line, for once, behaved: an addition of 685 million złoty following an update of the legal risk model parameters, far below the 4 365 million charged across 2025.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  13. ReportedThe Swiss franc line, for once, behaved: an addition of 685 million złoty following an update of the legal risk model parameters, far below the 4 365 million charged across 2025.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  14. ReportedNet profit was 3 312 million złoty for the whole of 2022 and return on equity 9,6%; the first six months of 2026 alone produced 5 290 million at 19,3%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
  15. ReportedNet profit was 3 312 million złoty for the whole of 2022 and return on equity 9,6%; the first six months of 2026 alone produced 5 290 million at 19,3%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for the six months ended 30 June 2026, published with reviewed financial statements (profit before tax of 8 319m złoty up 19,9%, income tax of 3 029m up 67,4%, net profit of 5 290m up 3,1%, return on equity of 19,3%, cost-to-income of 31,4%, interest margin of 4,47% against 4,91%, cost of risk of 0,29%, total assets past 608 448m, 12,6 million customers, common equity tier 1 of 15,55%, and a further 685m złoty of convertible-currency legal risk) — H1 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026