Emergent BioSolutions Inc. — Call Transcript 2025

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Erste Group third quarter 2025 results conference call. I am Sandra, the call's call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants have been listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and zero. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Thomas Sommerauer, Head, Group Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir. Thank you very much, Sandra, for the kind introduction and also a warm welcome from my end to this third quarter conference call of Erste Group. We follow our usual procedure, according to which Peter Bosek, our Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Dörfler, our Chief Financial Officer, and Alexandra Habeler-Drabek, our Chief Risk Officer, will lead you through a brief presentation highlighting the financial achievements of the third quarter and year to date. After which time, we will be ready to take your questions. Before I hand over to Peter Bosek, the usual highlighting of the disclaimer on page two in regard to forward-looking statements. With this, I hand over to Peter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome again to our third quarter 2025 conference call. Let me place two messages right at the start. First, we are progressing well towards first-time consolidation of Santander Polska around year-end 2025. We received all competition authority approvals, and it's our current expectation that we will get the nod of the Polish regulator KNF by year-end. The integration work streams with our future colleagues are also right on track, as is our capital build. Actually, it's progressing even better than we have planned. This brings me right to my second message, and this is our existing business is doing exceptionally well. We benefit from strong volume growth. Dynamics across our region, which translates into healthy top-line performance and good bottom-line profitability. If you add these two things up, the strengths of our existing business and the integration of a leading bank in the larger CEE market, Erste will become a real powerhouse in CEE banking with an unrivaled profitability and growth profile. While it's unlikely that we hit the EUR 4 billion profit mark in 2026 on a reported basis due to the booking of customary one-time items that have to be absorbed with first-time consolidation of such transactions, this doesn't change anything in our ambition to get there on a clean basis already in 2026. Such one-time items include purely technical and over time P&L neutral IFRS effects, such as the measurement of acquired assets at fair value and the resulting immediate recognition of expected credit losses on the newly acquired portfolio, and certainly also one-off integration costs, which we still see around EUR 200 million. With this, let me highlight a couple of points of our third quarter performance. For the first time ever, we posted quarterly revenues north of EUR 2.9 billion. This resulted from a record net interest income of close to EUR 2 billion, supported by strong loan growth, a stable interest rate environment, and continued deposit pricing strengths. In addition, we printed fees of almost EUR 800 million, also a quarterly record. On the cost side, we probably could have done a touch better, but this is definitely an area where we still have a potential going into the fourth quarter. Despite elevated costs, quarterly operating profit was also in record territory by a comfortable margin. Risk costs remained moderate, and we are fully in line with our guidance. We again benefited from a positive one-off in the other operating result despite higher banking taxes. Altogether, we achieved an excellent Return on Tangible Equity of 18% flat in the third quarter. Based on these numbers, we slightly tweaked our 2025 guidance. We now see net interest income growing by more than 2% instead of more than 0%. Consequently, we rather see the cost-income ratio at around 48% instead of below 50%. Furthermore, we are raising our year-end CET1 ratio projection to higher than 18.5% due to continued strong capital build in the case first-time consolidation has not happened by this time. All other 2025 guidance items, most of which we already upgraded a quarter ago, are hereby confirmed. When analyzing our P&L metrics, I'm on page five in the meantime, we see continued net interest margin recovery. This was not necessarily driven by an expansion of product spreads, but rather by the factors I already mentioned, like higher NII on the back of loan growth and strong deposit pricing power, in addition to still muted interest-bearing asset inflation. The latter was supported by limited growth in financial assets and interbank assets in the past quarter. Operating efficiency also remained at a sound level, just shy of 47%, as did risk costs at somewhat above 20 basis points. Banking taxes went up in the past quarter due to a doubling of the tax rate in Romania starting in July. Quarterly earnings per share also rose despite reported net profit being down slightly quarter-on-quarter due to the non-deduction of AT1 dividends in the third quarter. The same effects also explain the rise of the Return on Tangible Equity to 18%. I don't want to sound repetitive, but clearly what had positive effects in our P&L is also reflected in the year-to-date balance sheet development. On page six, you can see the main driver of asset-side growth was higher customer loan volumes. In fact, since the start of the year, added almost EUR 10 billion to our loan stock. Stefan will tell you more where it exactly came from later. For now, I will only say that the positive trends of the previous quarters, good growth across Central and Eastern Europe, and solid growth in Austria, and better growth in retail and corporate business continued in the third quarter. Total customer deposits grew by 2.5% year-to-date, while core retail and SME deposits, which includes deposits held in the savings banks, increased by 2.4% over the same time frame. The retail segment on its own saw deposit growth by 3.5% since the start of the year. All in all, we are seeing healthy volume growth for the past couple of quarters now, and the third quarter was no exception. This increase looks like a sustainable trend. This makes us confident that we will comfortably deliver our full-year guidance of growing customer loans by more than 5%. Looking at the same key balance sheet metrics on slide seven, my key message to you is that all of them are pretty much in a sweet spot territory. The loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 92%. Here, we saw a little bit of an uptick since the start of the year due to strong loan growth dynamics and, compared to that, somewhat slower growth in deposits. The asset quality backdrop remained excellent in the third quarter, with a stable NPL ratio of 2.5% and unchanged coverage versus the previous quarter of about 74%. Importantly, the asset quality situation in Austria remained stable despite the weak economic backdrop. Asset quality across Central and Eastern Europe remained very strong, and the Czech Republic and Hungary are doing particularly well. As usual, Alexandra will provide you further details on credit risk later. Our capital position continued to expand in the run-up for the first-time consolidation of our Polish position, expected for around year-end of 2025. On a pro forma basis, we added another 74 basis points to our CET1 ratio in the third quarter, which now stands at 18.2%. Quarterly profit inclusion, the lack of any dividend accrual, and the first positive impact from securitization were key drivers of this strong print. The lower left-hand chart on the reported CET1 number, where third-quarter profit is not included due to not being reviewed. With this, let's now examine the macroeconomic environment and, in particular, the outlook for 2026. I'm on slide nine now. In the past quarter, we saw continuation of geopolitical and trade tensions, which prolonged the weakness of German industry. The fiscal spending plans announced in spring of this year didn't yet show any noticeable positive effect to date other than a slight improvement in sentiment. Accordingly, the German economy is expected to flatline in 2025. Due to this and necessary fiscal consolidation measures, the Austrian economy also struggled to produce growth. The situation was different in Central and Eastern Europe, where moderate growth in the range of 1%-3% is expected in 2025. I would like to highlight the good economic performance of the Czech Republic in this context, which is still our most important CEE market. A key pillar of strength was the healthy labor market across our region, and that includes Austria. Consumer price inflation remained relatively elevated in our region, impacted by high energy prices, but also good domestic demand. Fiscal and external balances were mixed, with once again the Czech Republic standing out in terms of fiscal prudence and a positive external balance. When looking forward to 2026, current forecasts project higher growth rates in most of our markets and at worst, a stable growth performance. Consumer price inflation should ease somewhat, and the labor markets are expected to remain in good shape. Fiscal deficits should improve, especially in Romania, and overall indebtedness should also remain at sustainable levels. This is an environment that works well for us and should ensure that we will continue to grow profitably in 2026, despite all uncertainties that, unfortunately, more than ever are a feature of doing business. Despite the mixed macro backdrop, retail business continued to do very well in the third quarter. I'm on page 10 now, with our balanced growth in retail loans, with housing and consumer finance contributing to growth in equal measure, both rising in higher single digits year-on-year. Asset quality remained stable at low levels. When it comes to retail liabilities, deposits also grew by a significant 6.4% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in current account and savings deposits, while term deposits were down year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter, in line with trends we have already observed for a couple of quarters now. From the bank's point of view, this trend is positive as the shift towards lower price deposits decreased funding costs and supports net interest income. The good news doesn't stop here. We also saw continuous growth in our balance sheets, in off-balance sheet customer funds. Security savings plans that enabled customers to build long-term wealth in an easy-to-manage digital format topped 1.9 million at the end of the third quarter, and they have generated gross fund sales in excess of EUR 1.1 billion year-to-date. George, our digital platform for retail clients, continued on its growth path. The number of onboarded users reached 11.2 million in the third quarter, and the digital sales ratio in the retail business equaled 65.8%. Going forward, our ambition is unchanged to develop George into a fully-fledged financial advisor in order to give even larger parts of our client population access to high-quality financial advice. In the corporate segment, I'm on page 11 already. Loans were up 6.9% year-on-year and 1.3% quarter-on-quarter. Growth was well distributed among all four business lines in the third quarter, while year-on-year the large corporate business made the best contribution, expanding by 10.4%. In terms of products, there was definitely more demand for investment loans than in the third quarter, while year-on-year there was a good balance between investments and working capital loans. The market's business built on its strong start in 2025 with our ECM and DCM teams successfully executing 236 transactions with an issuance volume of EUR 173 billion year-to-date. In asset management business, we reached a historical milestone in the third quarter with assets under management topping EUR 100 billion for the first time ever. This achievement will support future fee growth. With that, I hand over to Stefan for the presentation of the quarterly operating trends. Thanks very much, Peter, and also a warm welcome to this call from my side. Please follow me to page 13. When analyzing the loan volume performance by country, I would also single out the Czech business in the same way as Peter did in the context of macro. Not only is it our largest and most profitable market in Central and Eastern Europe, but it is also the most consistent performer when it comes to loan growth. In the third quarter, we continued to see growth across the board there. Demand was strong across all product categories with good balance between investment loans and working capital facilities in the corporate business, while mortgages continued to lead the way in the retail space with annual growth in the mid-teens. Mortgages were also the key growth driver in Slovakia, increasing by almost 10% year-on-year. Corporate loan demand was heavily tilted towards working capital facilities there. In Hungary, the retail business clearly outperformed the corporate business with both mortgages and consumer loans growing in the mid-teens year-on-year. Please bear in mind that euro growth rates are somewhat flattered by the strong appreciation of Hungarian forint over the past months, but even when adjusting for this, retail growth was really strong. In Croatia, the development was similar to that in Hungary, with growth being better in retail than in corporate business. Within retail, mortgages were ahead. When we said in July that mortgage lending in Central and Eastern Europe is back, third-quarter data provides further evidence that this trend is strong and has legs. In our Austrian retail and SME operations, Erste Bank Österreich and the savings banks, volume growth is slowly but surely approaching the mid-single digits. Actually, not bad given the lackluster economic backdrop. Interestingly, growth was somewhat better in the corporate business than in retail, with especially good demand for investment loans. Given the strong loan growth year-to-date, we feel very comfortable with our greater than 5% guidance for 2025. On the liability side, see page 14, the trends we have observed for the past couple of quarters also continued in the third quarter of 2025. Importantly, the favorable structural shift in our vast retail deposit base of almost EUR 170 billion from term deposits back to current account deposits and savings accounts, or put differently, from the most expensive to cheaper retail deposits, showed no signs of slowing. A similar trend was visible in the corporate business with overnight deposits increasing, while term deposits declined year-on-year. Consequently, the cost of deposits has declined to the lowest level in almost three years, with corresponding positive read across to net interest income, as we will see shortly. In terms of total deposit volumes, we are up 3.4% year-on-year and flat compared to the second quarter. Growth was driven by core retail, SME, and savings banks deposits, up 5.2% over the past 12 months. While deposits in the corporate segment flatlined over the same period, due in particular to offsetting volatility in the large corporate and public sector subsegments. In terms of geographic segment highlights, annual growth was satisfactory across the retail and SME businesses in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe, while the year-on-year decline in the other Austria segment was entirely attributable to lower non-core financial institution deposits. Let me now move to net interest income on page 15. We have already talked about many NII drivers, be it strong loan growth, lower cost of deposits, or a stabilization in the interest rate environment. Add to that a steepening of yield curves allowing for better reinvestment opportunities and tighter funding spreads. You have all ingredients for posting record quarterly net interest income. Record NII of close to EUR 2 billion, in fact, up 3.7% year-on-year and also up 3.1% quarter-on-quarter. Net interest margin also edged up quarter-on-quarter thanks to a muted increase in interest-bearing assets on the back of lower interbank business volumes. In terms of geographic highlights, net interest income at the Austrian retail and SME business continued to stabilize on the back of significant downward repricing of deposits, while downward repricing of variable-rate loans came almost to a standstill. In Czech Republic and Slovakia, continued deposit repricing also had a positive impact year-on-year, compounded by the continued upward repricing of mortgage loans due to refixations at higher levels. The other segment, which includes holding asset liability management operations, benefited from higher income, mainly from government bond investments. A final comment on NII: our sensitivity to rate cuts is more or less unchanged at about, or even slightly below, EUR 200 million for a 100 basis point instant downward rate shock, with the bulk of the impact expected at the minority-owned savings banks, so no big deal for shareholders. As a result of all of this, we are upgrading again our 2025 outlook for net interest income from previously growth of higher than 0% to growth of higher than 2%. Flipping to fees on page 16 and then onto a blockbuster, sorry, fee quarter. Net fee income rose by a massive 8.6% year-on-year and increased by 4.8% quarter-on-quarter. With this, we set a new quarterly record of almost EUR 800 million. In terms of growth drivers, the story is by and large unchanged. Year-on-year, fees generated by payment services and securities business led the way, even though the increase in payment fees is understated by the shift of loan account fees from payment to lending as of first quarter 2025. I would not like to highlight individual countries in this context, as we saw encouraging trends across the board, but rather add a comment to the Other Austria segment. In addition to good asset management sales, the year-on-year jump there is also explained by the integration of new asset management companies, so bolt-on acquisitions have worked very well there. Quarter-on-quarter, the drivers were pretty much the same as year-on-year, with excellent performances registered in payment services as well as securities business. Based on the strong year-to-date performance, we confirm our full-year guidance of growth comfortably exceeding 5% in 2025. Let me turn to operating expenses on slide 17. Quarter-on-quarter costs were unchanged, both in terms of absolute amount and structure. Somewhat higher IT expenses were offset by lower personnel costs. Other than that, there were no major developments. Year-on-year cost inflation remained elevated compared to third quarters of 2024 and 2025, and at 6.8% looking at the first three quarters, respectively. The reasons are well known, ranging from higher staff costs to higher IT consulting expenses. Very importantly, we do believe that with this, we have seen the peak of cost inflation, and in the fourth quarter of 2025, the year-on-year cost updraft will decline significantly. Consequently, it is still our ambition to get as close to the 5% guidance in 2025 as possible. Actually, the only moving target in this context is the size and timing of the booking of integration costs related to the Santander Polska acquisition. Looking further out and limiting my comments to existing ST operations, we do believe that cost growth will decline materially from 2025 levels in 2026, which bodes well for positive operating leverage, given that we also have a strong top-line momentum. Talking about operating performance, we move to page 18 and can conclude that the top-line performance is the story of the third quarter. We posted record quarterly revenues, which fully offset elevated costs, resulting in record operating profit. The cost-income ratio also improved to 46.7% for the quarter. Based on the strong year-to-date operating performance, we are upgrading the full-year cost-income ratio guidance for 2025 to about 48%. As I mentioned before, we have a constructive stance when it comes to the 2026 operating result outlook of our existing ST operations due to strong top-line momentum and moderating cost inflation in 2026. We hand this over to you, Alexandra, for more details on credit risk. Thank you, Stefan, and good morning and welcome to this call also from my end. I am on page 19. In the third quarter of 2025, we booked risk costs of EUR 136 million, or 24 basis points. A year ago, risk costs were lower, but back then, we benefited from FLI and overlay releases in the amount of EUR 101 million as opposed to only EUR 19 million this quarter. Net-net, we actually saw an improvement year-on-year. As is visible on the left-hand chart, we continue to book risk costs in our Austrian retail and SME operations, but the asset quality situation in Austria has definitely stabilized, thanks to lower NPL inflows year-to-date. The third-quarter bookings in Romania and Slovakia were mostly attributable to the retail business. Like Stefan and Peter, I also would like to explicitly mention the Czech Republic, which continued to excel also in terms of risk performance. As far as FLI and industry overlay provisions are concerned, we now hold a stock of about EUR 460 million, slightly down compared to the second quarter, on the back of the already mentioned only minor FLI releases. Accordingly, we are again adjusting our forecast of such provision release in the remainder of 2025 to about EUR 70 million. Let me also come back to a point that Peter mentioned in his comments on one-time effects related to the first-time consolidation of Santander Polska. According to IFRS 3 and IFRS 9, we are required to measure all acquired assets at fair value on the date of acquisition and immediately provide for performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on parent company level. These are purely technical IFRS bookings that will make our risk cost line look worse by up to EUR 300 million in 2026, but are P&L neutral over time. Importantly, this is not a reflection of any underlying portfolio deterioration of the acquired assets. Moving back to 2025, and given our strong year-to-date credit risk performance, which asset benefited much less from FLI and overlay releases than in previous years, we confirm our full-year risk cost outlook of about 20 basis points. Let's now turn to asset quality on page 20. With a consolidated NPL ratio of 2.5% and an NPL coverage ratio, excluding collateral as always, of 74%, asset quality metrics remain strong, and this across our footprint. Overall, the NPL ratio benefited from somewhat lower NPL inflows and significantly higher recoveries year-to-date. Central and Eastern Europe, and again, especially the Czech Republic, continued to do very well, with only Romania and Slovakia showing a small deterioration. In Romania, NPL inflows were registered in the third quarter in retail as well as in the corporate business, while in Slovakia, this was due to some inflows in the retail space. In Austria, the situation was broadly stable, with most of the NPL inflows being tied to the real estate segment, as we have already observed over the past couple of quarters. Nonetheless, let me stress this once again, the asset quality situation in this segment has definitely not deteriorated, but rather continues to consolidate at somewhat elevated levels. I still maintain my comments from the second quarter that we have seen the peak in defaults in Austria, but at the same time, you should not overestimate the speed of recovery given the still challenging economic environment. In terms of projections for year-end 2025, we expect the group NPL ratio to stay more or less at current levels. Similarly, coverage is expected to remain broadly unchanged, subject to the structure of new defaults and the magnitude of further FLI and overlay releases. With this, I already hand back to Stefan. Thanks, Alexandra. Let's briefly look at how the other result performed this quarter on page 21. In short, other result once again benefited from a positive one-off. After posting a positive one-off of EUR 88 million in the second quarter, the third quarter saw a positive one-off in the form of a provision release related to a legal case in Romania in the amount of EUR 77 million, which also explains the quarter-on-quarter deterioration to which the increased banking tax in Romania from July also contributed. Year-on-year, the comparison looks more favorable, even though the tripling of the Austrian banking tax since the start of 2025 did not help in this context. In terms of guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025, we would definitely expect to come in significantly better than for the last quarter a year ago. On page 22, and summing up the P&L for third quarter of 2025, the record operating performance, combined with moderate, however, year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter slightly higher risk costs, resulted in a quarterly net profit of EUR 901 million, earnings per share of EUR 2.2, and a Return on Tangible Equity of 18%. As Peter mentioned already, the reason why earnings per share and Return on Tangible Equity both improved quarter-on-quarter despite reported net profit trailing the second quarter figure has exclusively to do with the timing of AT1 dividend payments. In the second quarter, we had some deductions due to this, while in the third quarter, there were no such payments. Overall, we are fully on track to deliver a Return on Tangible Equity of greater than 15% in 2025. With this, let's spend a few minutes on wholesale funding and capital. Page 24 shows that our highly granular and well-diversified retail and SME deposit base, of course, remains the key source of long-term funding. Wholesale funding volumes decreased year-to-date as higher stock of debt securities was more than offset by decline in interbank deposits, mainly repos. The stock of debt securities was pushed up primarily by issuance of covered bonds and senior preferred bonds, characterizing a very successful issuance here for Erste Group, resulting in the updated maturity profile on page 25. My very short summary would be that we successfully completed our 2025 funding plan well ahead of time. Third-quarter issuance highlights included a EUR 750 million Tier 2 note on holding level, as well as senior non-preferred paper and covered bond in the amount of EUR 500 million each, issued by our Czech and Slovak subsidiaries, respectively. Finally, for my part, let's look at capital, starting on page 26. Our first half 2025 performance, when it comes to regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets, was exceptional, and the third quarter was no different. While this is not visible in reported CET1 capital, which is almost entirely attributable to the non-inclusion of third-quarter profit, it is all the more visible in risk-weighted assets on the right-hand chart on this slide. The increase in risk-weighted assets from strong business growth was more than offset by asset-quality-related portfolio effects, as well as the successful execution of optimization measures such as securitizations. The former cover such factors as rating upgrades and downgrades, migrations to default, and parameter updates. Later, thanks to small securitization transactions in Slovakia and Hungary, also reduced risk-weighted assets by almost EUR 1 billion. Consequently, risk-weighted assets overall declined by another EUR 1.5 billion in the third quarter. Let's now turn to the important pro forma view of our CET1 ratio on page 27. If we focus on pro forma, we can see that we are pretty much where we targeted to be at year-end already now after the third quarter. At 18.2%, we could have closed the policy transaction already in September without falling below our minimum threshold of 13.5% announced at the time of acquisition or signing of the SBA in May. The fourth-quarter profit and most of the balance sheet optimization are still to come. So far, securitizations contributed only 12 basis points and asset sales another 11 basis points, roundabout. All the rest came from organic capital generation, obviously supported by the temporarily reduced shareholder distributions. Consequently, we now 2025 CET1 ratio of higher than 18.5% should the Santander Bank Polska acquisition close in early 2026, or alternatively, of higher than 14% should the transaction be completed inside this year. With the assumption of our drawdown unchanged at about 460 basis points as a result of first-time consolidation of Santander Bank Polska, we should be well on our way post-consolidation CET1 ratio target of 14.25% during the course of 2026, and at the same time, return to our dividend payout policy of 40%-50%. With this, over to you, Peter, for the outlook. Thank you, Stefan. Thank you, Alexandra. I'm concluding the presentation with our detailed financial outlook for 2025 on page 29. In addition, I will sketch out how I see 2026 shaping up, but let's start with 2025. As is evident from the numbers presented today, 2025 is already a strong year, and we have no reason to believe that the fourth quarter will be any different. We have healthy customer volume growth. We have a reasonably favorable interest rate environment, and as market leader, we have pricing power, all of which supported upgrading our net interest income outlook for 2025. We now expect growth of more than 2%. Fees continue to do very well for us, so the guidance of greater than 5% is probably on the conservative end. With this, our top line should grow nicely in 2025. On the cost side, we stick to our guidance of roughly 5% increase in 2025, even though we do realize that the year-end to-date performance and the possible front-loading of some integration costs related to Poland might push this figure slightly higher. Even factoring some cost volatility in, we believe that we have a good shot of printing a 48 handle when it comes to the 2025 cost-income ratio supported by a strong top line. Risk costs should be in line with our existing guidance of about 20 basis points, and Return on Tangible Equity should be comfortably above 15%, also fully in line with guidance. Let's now to the more interesting part of this 2026. First of all, we enter 2026 from the position of strengths. Erste, as we know it today, enjoys strong growth dynamics. Add to that that 2026 economic outlook for our region is somewhat better than it was for 2025, so volume growth should continue to be healthy. If we don't see big shifts in the interest rate environment, which is the current expectation, then our top line in 2026 should grow faster than it did in 2025. At the same time, cost inflation should definitely come down next year, so positive operating leverage is not unrealistic for 2026. With a continued solid credit risk backdrop, we would expect to print a Return on Tangible Equity north of 15%. That's the existing Erste business. We are talking about a business that, even prior to the acquisition of Santander Polska, is in excellent shape in terms of growth and profitability. If we now add Poland to the 2026 equation and leave one off the side, our profit and capital generation capacity will only improve from here. In terms of level 2026 guidance for the combined entity, we therefore feel comfortable with confirming our targets made at the time of transaction announcement, and that's a Return on Tangible Equity of about 19% and EPS uplift of higher than 20% based on current market consensus expectations for 2025. To be absolutely clear about it, the guidance relates to reported figures rather than figures adjusted for one-time items. This, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our presentation remarks. Thank you for your attention. We are now ready to take your questions. We will now begin question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered a queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Questioners on the phone are requested to disable the loudspeaker mode while asking a question. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. Our first question comes from Gulnara Saitkulova from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. With the question on costs, you noted that the cost growth is expected to decline materially in 2026. Could you provide additional color on the cost outlook for the coming year and the key factors influencing the cost dynamics across your various markets? Where do you see and expect the most significant cost savings to come from, maybe potential areas of pressure, and how are you planning to manage these developments? Thank you. All right, that's it. Okay, very good. Thank you very much for the question. Now, look, let's start with the environment. I think what we have seen was, and that's of course the flip side of the coin of a stable rate environment, we have seen that the inflation, while coming down from the super elevated levels over the cycle, has still been at quite elevated levels. That's true for Austria. If you compare Austria to most of the other, if not all of the other Euroland countries, to name Hungary or Romania, this, combined with the very tight labor markets, definitely has been keeping the pressure on wage inflation up. On the flip side of that is, of course, a very, very strong retail business, strong fee business, very good asset quality. That all, of course, is connected to each other. That much to the overall backdrop. On the internal, so to say, view, we have always been pointing out that the investments that we started in the second half of 2024 and have been ramping up throughout 2025 in order to improve our process efficiency are clearly seen in our cost line. We always have been flagging that as around 1.5 percentage points. That is, of course, now also part of the slightly elevated cost numbers in 2025. What of this will come down in 2026? First of all, we see significantly reducing wage inflation pressure all across countries. Actually, I don't need to be specific anywhere. Of course, the absolute levels are different, but all of them have been coming down by, let's say, 1%-3% from what we saw in 2024 and 2025. That's point number one. Point number two, the index adjustments of, let's say, the broad IT spending and so on are hopefully mostly finalized, and that definitely is an easing effect. Thirdly, and that's, of course, most important for you to see how we work on the matters, we will already, and we see already, significant achievements in the process efficiency and the automation. That means that especially in the operations area and the typical mid-to-back office areas, you will see reduction of staff here and there, not a huge reduction, but a significant one in order to bring down the cost, inflation substantially. I.e., as Peter, Alexandra, and myself described, we see a very good chance to come up with a positive operating choice in 2026 altogether. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Amit Ranjan from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Yes, hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. The first one is on capital. Can you please talk about how much of the 40 basis points optimization measures are now in the numbers? I think, Stefan, you mentioned around 12 basis points. If you could confirm that, please. What's the outlook for these benefits in the fourth quarter, please? The second one is on capital return outlook from 2026 onwards, the 40%-50% dividend payout range. Could there be upside to this range given the pace of capital build so far? Would it be dividends, more share? Could there be share buybacks part of the equation as well, please? The payout, would it be based on stated net income, or would it exclude the one-off from its list? Thank you. Stefan, you just can take it.. All right, one after the other. First question, how much is in? Less than half of the 40 basis points. However, given the very successful progress all across the measures we are taking, let's not forget the market was quite supportive, very tight spreads, so we could do a little bit more of asset sales. Securitizations are on a very good track, as you saw also in one or the other, let me say, statement reported around it. We believe it's going to be above 40 basis points at the end of the year, and some of the measures might still happen in Q1. In other words, so far, only roundabout half of the 30 basis points of particular measures are in, but towards the end of the year, it will be more than 40 basis points. That's why we are overall, in general, on a better track with the one ratio. That's point number one. I think you were asking about dividend EUR 0.25. So EUR 0.25, very simply put, we will not change anything here. It's going to be 10% of the net profit. Obviously, with the net profit, there is certain fluctuation. If you put the numbers together, a best guess is somewhere between EUR 0.50 and EUR 0.75 to the euro, but that's just, so to say, simply calculated. Nothing to be changed there because our clear commitment and goal is that in 2026. Shareholder. Returns on dividend payouts should be very much in the focus. I said it in the presentation that 40%-50% net profit after AT1 deduction is our dividend policy. I think if we get back to that, given good profitability expectations for 2026, a very interesting and attractive dividend for 2026 should be expected. Thank you. The next question comes from Máté Nemes from UBS. Please go ahead. Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I have three of them. The first one would be on the Czech Republic. You're showing really strong 5% sequential NII growth. It seems like you are outperforming the sector both in retail lending and in corporate lending. Could you talk a little bit about the drivers of that? What's behind this, and how sustainable do you see this double-digit retail loan growth in the country? How long this could continue? The second question would be on the NII guidance. North of 2% for this year. If I look at the quarterly developments and only assume a flattish sequential development in Q4, you already are at 2.8% up year on year. Again, you're showing really good growth in a number of markets. NII or net interest margin showing a trough, perhaps in Austria and clear expansion in a number of other markets. What prevents you actually to become more positive? What are the potential one-offs or other risks to that guidance? The last question would be on Q4 costs. In the first nine months, you are 6.8% up year on year. Can you comment on what exactly in Q4 will help you to get to a roundabout 5% or 5%-ish level on a full-year basis? Any specific one-offs that you booked in the second half of 2024 or any potential reliefs you're getting specifically this quarter? Thank you. Let me start to answer your first question about Czech Republic and our mortgage lending, consumer lending, and corporate lending. Point number one, this trend is going on since more than 18 months. There was a kind of hangover from COVID times in terms of demand. Now it seems to us that this demand looks quite sustainable, and we are just taking advantage of being market leaders there. We are very well positioned in mortgage lending. It's also true for consumer lending, but demand in mortgage lending is bigger than in consumer lending. On the other hand, I think it's fair to say that we have a very balanced loan growth in the Czech Republic. It's not only about retail, it's also about corporate banking. We are doing very well in SME lending and corporate banking in the Czech Republic. We are quite happy with what we have achieved so far, and we are deeply convinced that the demand in corporate and retail lending is a sustainable one. On NII guidance, look, I can keep it very short. We don't have any whatsoever one-offs or so in mind. Greater than 2% can also be greater than 3%, right? We simply wanted to leave a certain room of, so to say, caution in. That's all I can say. We are super confident to beat the two. We are reasonably confident to beat the three, but that's pretty much it. Nothing more to say here. Q4 cost, very interesting point. Please, if you look at the quarterly cost chart in the presentation, you will very clearly see that the 2024 Q4 was elevated even more than usually the Q4 bookings are elevated. There were various reasons for that. Some of these effects will repeat. I have to be very honest with you. For example, we have a component for our employees and managers in the bonus payments, which is tied to the share performance, and that obviously has to be provisioned in the cost. That's one element which repeats. I was already mentioning in my presentation that there is a small, but not completely immaterial part of the Polish integration cost that we will book. We will see some effects in Q4, but certainly not such a jump up like in 2024. That's why the year-on-year quarter four, quarter four comparison will come down quite substantially, and that helps us to come much closer to the 5% than we are in so far in the first three quarters. I think that's the explanation for Q4, but allow me, please, also to make a statement for 2026, as I already answered in the former question. That's really critical that we bring down the cost inflation in 2026. Even if we have fantastic top line, it's important for us to come to, let me say, at or even below inflation levels in order to support the overall operating performance, and that we definitely have in the cards for 2026. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Benoît Pétrarque from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead. Yes, good morning. The first question on my side is on the earnings power for Poland. Just wondering what you see operationally in Poland and also looking at several factors like rate outlook and bank tax. If you could refresh us on your guidance for Poland for 2026. The second question is, again, on NII. Yeah, what can stop NII to further increase in the coming quarters, basically? I mean, you have name stabilization, very strong loan growth across the board, positive mix effect. I think in your slide, you mentioned potentially flattening of the curve or ECB rate cuts, but it sounds like NII momentum will remain strong in the coming quarters. I just wanted to confirm again that with name stabilization, it's going to be a function of loan growth as far as NII is concerned. Last one, just on the loan-to-deposit ratio, which is deteriorating a bit for several quarters. Do you plan any specific steering actions to rebalance deposit growth versus loan growth? Loan growth will probably stay strong next year. Any planned actions there? Thank you very much. If you may start to answer questions. The first part about Poland, I think yesterday or the day before yesterday, hopefully future colleagues in Poland announced their third-quarter results. You can see they are still going very, very strong. The forecast for next year when it comes to economic development is the highest in the whole region and will be definitely above 3%. When it comes to NII in general, before I hand over to Stefan, this is exactly what we tried to explain, that when we assume that interest rates will more or less stay at the same level as they are today, where this is also our forecast, there should be much more correlation between volume growth and NII growth compared to this year. We are quite happy that we succeeded to increase NII this year, and we should not forget that this year we have seen a decrease in interest rate environment. It is just given the demand in our region. This is the only region in Europe which is still growing. The demand in loan growth and our capability to fulfill this demand led to a situation that our NII is growing, although interest rates are coming down. If you put this in perspective for next year, and let's assume again that interest rate level will stay where it is, then our loan growth should be even better. The NII growth should be even better. I completely agree. That's exactly how we explain the situation. I have absolutely no disagreement with your statement that further on in the upcoming quarters, we could also see a further growth in NII. There is nothing in our statements that would contradict that. It was only the discussion around Q4, and you know exactly that there can always be a couple of effects that drive it a little bit more up and down. I think our guidance for Q4 is also open on the upper side, so no problem with that. One reminder, just not to get too overly excited, of course, certain measures that we took very successfully also have a certain limit. In other words, deposit repricing doesn't go on forever, and we have been very successful in that across the markets, as we explained. Also, let's not forget that the funding, for example, wholesale funding levels, which we were perfectly making use of in 2025, there is no guarantee that those funding spreads remain at tight levels. I mean, we are super optimistic, but we also should remain realistic and not expect that things go through the roof. On your loan-to-deposit statement, I have a completely different opinion here. Very simply put, I think we are in a perfect sweet spot. We are in a perfect sweet spot. Anything around this 90% loan-to-deposit ratio across the group, I feel super comfortable with. Of course, there are big differences between the markets. I'm happy to go in a different session into the details market by market. Overall, the loan-to-deposit ratio is exactly where we like it to be in this rate environment. We will, of course, very closely watch all the indicators on the liquidity and deposit front, but so far could hardly be better. Thank you. All right. Thank you. The next question comes from Gabor Kemeny from Autonomous Research. Please go ahead. Good morning. One question on Poland, please, and the bank tax in particular, the bank tax proposal. I believe this is still a proposal. If this gets implemented, how would that impact the operations of Santander Polska? I believe you are expecting to create significant goodwill with the deal. Could the bank tax impact the valuation and with that the capital impact from this acquisition? That's the first question. Secondly, on the NII outlook, thank you for all the clarifications. Just numbers-wise, I believe you are annualizing close to the EUR 8 billion mark in Q3 or perhaps H2. I believe you guided around EUR 3 billion from Santander Polska, which together gets us to EUR 11 billion before considering growth. Are there any trends, any deviations you would like to highlight for our modeling? The 2026 NII outlook, please? The final one would be Czechia is about to. Gain a new government, form a new government. Do you have any views on the likelihood of the new government introducing another bank tax? Thank you. Thank you, Gabor. Let me start with the last part of your question about Czech Republic. So far, and also not during the election campaigns, there was anything mentioned when it comes to banking tax. Of course, we know that all over Europe, banking taxes are an issue because a lot of countries have an issue with their public debt levels, which is not so much the case for the Czech Republic. I think therefore this is not such a hot topic in Czech Republic. From today's perspective, we don't expect a banking tax in the Czech Republic. Of course, I need a political disclaimer. You never know when it comes to politics. Yeah. On NII, Gabor, very briefly. I mean, I think your statement on the existing perimeter of Erste Group can only be signed off. That's correct. That's all fine. I'm not in the position to comment yet on detailed outlook for our future Polish subsidiaries. First of all, we don't know the detailed internal drivers, the hedges, all of that. Please ask you for understanding that we can only talk about that really after closing. Certainly, you can read a lot out of this from the reporting of our future Polish colleagues. On the banking tax, look, I completely agree. It's still in the political decision process. There are all kinds of discussions around that. I don't want to, and I cannot comment on that in more detail. What is very important to understand, even if the government proposal goes through one-to-one, we are talking about a one-time lift up to 31% in 2026, then 26%, and then 23% as, so to say, the new level, which of course eases substantially your assumption in terms of the terminal value and stuff like impairment tests and goodwill assumptions. We have been doing the numbers, obviously, and we don't see any whatsoever reason to adjust them now. Of course, we will do this ongoingly. We are in constant contact, of course, already today with our auditors in assessing the situation. So far, we don't see any changes on that. Adding to this, of course, and Peter said it in a couple of statements also publicly, the strategic rationale, as well as the overall, so to say, profitability, long-term outlook doesn't change at all. We are used to those kinds of measures. Do we like them? Obviously not. Do we have to live with them? Certainly, yes. Thank you. Yeah, you are indeed. Thank you for all the comments. Thank you. The next question comes from Ben Maher from KBW. Please go ahead. Thanks for taking my question. It's not two quick ones. The first one is just on the cost growth we're seeing in Czechia. That's obviously accelerated a fair bit in the quarter, but inflation has been quite low there for a while, so I'm just interested to see what the main driver of that is. My second question is just on the overlay releases. I think you did mention it before that you're guiding to fewer releases than what you were guiding to last quarter. I was wondering if you could give any color on the potential releases for next year. Do you have a view on the terminal stock that you're targeting, or is it something that you don't really target? Thank you. I start with a question on the releases of FLI and overlays. I said for this year, for the remainder of this year, it's roughly EUR 70 million, which we expect, and going forward with even somewhat lower levels. Maybe around EUR 50 million releases next year, and then we would rather expect to have come to a certain stock of FLI, which we would also then carry forward. This is the current expectation. No huge releases, but some. I think your question, we had a bad line at this moment, but I think your question was around Czech costs, right? Yeah. Just the acceleration in the cost growth in Czechia during the quarter. No, I think, I mean, look, I just looked up a couple of numbers with my colleagues. I don't see any specifics. The wage inflation level roundabout is in the mid-single digits. We had adjustments of salaries around 5%. We had a couple of very good and forward-looking initiatives on IT side, AI, and so on in Czech Republic, which also played to it. Maybe if you can be more specific, I don't see any outlier whatsoever in Czech Republic, by no means on the cost side. It's business as usual, I would say. Comparing to the market, I think we are at average. Maybe you spotted something, then let us know. Okay. Thank you. The next question comes from Krishnendra Dubey from Barclays. Please go ahead. Thanks for taking my question. Thanks for the color on the NII. I just wanted to check on the fee guidance, actually. As of till nine months, you're trading at 8%. I know you say more than 5%, so it could be 5, 6, 7, consensus 6.5. How do you see that trend developing? The second question was on the 2026 net profit guidance. When you talk about adjusted EUR 4 billion, is it pre-AT1 or is it post-AT1? Lastly, you talked about EUR 200 million of one-offs. Are those tax deductible or are those not tax deductible? Thank you. The second one is easy. Everything that we talk about is pre-AT1. If you do, so to say, your math around, for example, dividend calculation or the like, we can provide you with the AT1 payments, absolutely no problem. All the numbers that Peter and myself were using are pre-AT1, dividend or, so to say, AT1 costs. On the fee trends, yes, you are perfectly right that we had this discussion, as you can imagine. Given the Q3 or year-to-date numbers, the greater and %, Looks thick, conservative. On the other hand, we all know that on fees, 1 percentage point is something around EUR 25 million, EUR 30 million. That can easily jump up and down. What value is there if you go to mid single upper digit, peep up? In that sense, there is no breaking whatsoever. Q4 usually is very strong, always subject to, for example, capital markets and so on in terms of asset management fees and so on. There is no whatsoever slowdown, as I said in the presentation already, visible. What will be interesting, of course, to see, on the back of here we have again the similar effect in the other direction. If inflation constantly comes down and slows down, then obviously some of the fee drivers might slow, but nonetheless, with our strategic focus, we are super optimistic, by the way, also for Poland that we can improve some of the fee generating activities substantially. Maybe if I may add some kind of sentiment from a business point of view, as Stefan absolutely rightly mentioned, inflation was already coming down this year. What we have expected for this year was a little bit more decrease in the fee related payments, which didn't happen so far. I think our capability to generate new clients is supporting us there to compensate the decrease in inflation and the potential impact on the payment fees. When it comes to asset management, it's clear that the volatility can increase, of course, in the upcoming months, which will be mainly reflected in the volume of our assets under management in asset management. When it comes to fee income generation, the way how we have built up or succeeded to build up our asset management proposition in most of our countries is this monthly, regularly investments in asset management products, which makes us not so much dependent on volatility in the market, because it's kind of cost average principle, which is supporting our clients to build up wealth in a very stable way. Last but not least, also coming back to Stefan's remark, we see a huge potential in terms of fee income and asset management in Poland, because we believe that this market is somehow under-penetrated when it comes to asset management, which is not a surprise because there was a different history in interest rates compared to other countries we are operating in. If I remember correctly, we've never seen negative interest rates in Poland. To say, the engagement or the love to term deposits is a little bit higher compared to other countries. When you look at the volumes of asset management, and given the size of the market and given the proposition of our bank, we see a lot of opportunities. Thank you, Peter. We were speculating, I think you asked about the tax deductibility of the integration costs and so on. This is very important information. The lion's share of it certainly is tax deductible. That's absolutely clear. Details can be given once we are more specific and have the detailed costs and everything on the table. The general answer is yes. Thank you. Thanks a lot. The next question comes from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. Please go ahead. Thanks a lot for taking my questions. First of all, is on the, if I'm not mistaken, EUR 300 million credit losses that may burden your profit and loss in 2026. Just to be clear, this is the purchase price allocation when you're measuring all the assets and all the liabilities of Santander Bank Polska at market prices. This eventually should lower the goodwill that you will book out of the transaction. It should be kind of capital neutral, if I understand it correctly. Completely irrelevant from that standpoint. The second question is just a clarification from Alexandra. If I'm not mistaken, I understand that in 2026 you expect to use only EUR 50 million of FLIs, just a confirmation of this number. If possible, I'd love to hear your thoughts if the SRTs that you have done and that you plan to do, as far as I understand, will have a revenue impact at some point. In case, how much it should be. I have a question on Poland and on the Advocate General, a month ago or whenever it was, talked about, said that the, let's say, the Polish courts have the right to look into the VIBOR. Using VIBOR as a benchmark. Is it something that you're looking at? Is it something that worries you? Is it a matter of concern for you? I have another question on deposits, if I may. Wage growth in all the countries where you operate is running above GDP growth. I guess this is the reason why the deposit growth, I've seen it at least in some countries, exceeds loan growth. Is that supposed to continue, you think? If that continues, do you see reason or ways to move some of these deposits, considering 90% loan to deposit ratio or something like that, into the asset management, which, if I'm not mistaken, hit EUR 100 billion? Those have been growing pretty fast. Are you happy with the amount of Asset Management fees, wealth management fees within your revenue base? Or is it something that you would consider expanding? Thanks. Okay. Let me start. Yes, I can confirm, we expect currently EUR 50 million release for 2026, but not only from FLI, this also includes some releases from the current overlays that we have for the cyclicals. The second one, this I cannot confirm. This up to maximum EUR 300 million that I was mentioning, day one is sale recognition, is not the PPA effect. Under IFRS, there are two topics. One is IFRS 3, where we are obliged to measure the financial assets at fair value on the acquisition date. On top comes IFRS 9, subsequent measurement, where we are forced to book the performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on the level of the mother company immediately. It is not the PPA effect. It is a combination of IFRS 3 fair valuation and additionally IFRS 9 requirements. We also have, if you're interested, the paragraphs for you to look it up. I'm sure Thomas will be happy to take this up afterwards. All right. Onto SRTs. Thanks for the question because it gives me opportunity to answer a few points. Of course, the ones you were asking about, but also some you have not been asking for. First, what costs are associated with the SRTs? Obviously, there is no free lunch anywhere. Therefore, very clearly, if we conclude all the SRTs currently foreseen for the rest of the year or latest in Q1, then you have around about for the next two, three years, a fee expense of EUR 50 million. Yeah. So that's exactly the cost. It's booked in the fee expenses since they are kind of considered as insurance payments, if you want to have a comparison, and you know that anyway. What is very important to mention is that we have an extremely well-diversified portfolio of SRTs in planning, both in terms of geographies as well as in terms of areas, so to say, of business. Going forward, Alexandra and myself have discussed this in very much detail with our teams. We want to use SRTs not only as a capital optimization measure, but also as a kind of portfolio optimization tool. I think it's both in terms of segment risks as well as optimization on here, on pockets right and left. We learned a lot in the last two years again. We are super happy to have this tool at hand. In terms of cost and capital relief, I think it's a fantastic tool for our current tasks and for our current goals. Maybe last comment to put these things in perspective. If you look at the overall European landscape of banks and comparable players in the market, we have been way below the utilization of SRTs so far. With all the executions that we are aiming for, we should land somewhere at the average of European banks, comparable to ourselves. That's also where we feel very comfortable. Thank you. If I may answer or go on with the law lecture here, when it comes to VIBOR, not too much news since we talked last time. There is this preparation of the decision of the European Court, which is saying that the usage of VIBOR in a contract is compliant in loan contracts. There are also some decisions in Poland from local courts, which are in favor of banks. I don't want to downplay it too much because it's drilling down that this seems to be not a systemic problem, like the Swiss franc topic was several years ago. It seems to be a topic which is drilling down to the concrete advice which was given to clients, you know, if advisors have made clients aware that they have floating rates, right? I think this is a completely different situation. To sum it up, we are fully aware that consumer protection is here to stay. This is something we are dealing with in all our markets. Just to remember, everyone, this started in Austria roughly 20 years ago. It's not only about kind of countries like Hungary or Poland. This is a topic where we are dealing with it all the time. The easiest way to be compliant is to come up with compliant products. Yes. Peter, do you want to, I think I take the first part of the deposit question. Yeah. With regard to growth, yes, well spotted. Of course, short term, there are deviations from GDP growth, deposit growth, both on individual level for us, but also in the respective markets. That stems from various matters, as you perfectly know. It's a liquidity, central bank liquidity, as well as money supply overall. I think that in general, we are an extremely attractive bank to our depositors. The trust that we have been gaining and we are working on every single day is a factor. We are a big player in all the markets. All of that plays into this. On your other question, I think that's obvious, we want to have a very good balance between keeping a strong deposit base, but of course, advising our clients for a right balance of asset management products, long-term savings, and better yielding products. I think it's all about the balance. It's all about good advice. If you look at also the feedback of the market and all these measures like MPS, CXI, I think our colleagues are doing an outstanding job there. That's also the goal for the future. Money which is available for a longer-term saving, of course, should not be kept necessarily on the lowest dealing levels. That's the way we are advising our clients. That's how we want to help them build their wealth for their long-term future. Thanks. Thanks, Stefan. If I may follow up one second on this topic. At the moment, with the current pricing at the moment of the deposit, is it better to have the deposits on balance sheet, so feeding an NII, or off balance sheet in Asset Management? Where is the margin better now? I think there's no clear answer to it. It's very much depending on client situation, of course. On the other hand, it's also fair to say that I think we have proven over the last, let's say, 24, even longer period of time, that our capability to manage interest rates on deposits in both kinds of environments, increasing interest rates and decreasing interest rates, we are doing very well. Point number one. Point number two is, Stefan rightly mentioned, for long-term investments, we are very much in favor of our clients to invest in asset management products because we still believe that this is an area not only in countries like Poland where we see room for improvement. This is true for all over Europe. You know, look at the Draghi report, look at the later report, look at every kind of speech politicians are giving typically on Sunday, not always having impact, of course. This is very obvious that there will be a strong tendency over the upcoming 20-30 years that people in Europe will invest much more in asset management products. There is no clear guidance between technically P&L measures. We are doing very well in managing interest rate levels, and of course giving advice, the right proper advice to our clients when it comes to asset management. Yeah. Thanks. The next question comes from Seamus Murphy from Carraighill. Please go ahead. Hi. Yeah, two questions, please. Just one, I suppose one of the major positives for Erste when we look across Europe is that, relative to most of your peers who are also growing, is that you've kept your FTEs or your employee numbers pretty constant since 2022 despite the balance sheet growth. I suppose my question is, how long can this be sustained? Should we consider that the employee numbers will grow into 2027? How are you thinking about the growth in employee numbers? Secondly, just very briefly on NII, I suppose when I think about NII, there are two components to it. Obviously, we have the structural element to it, which is the potential yield uplift, sales come from your current account, reinvestment of your maturing fixed rate products. In this quarter, I think you mentioned Slovakia in particular for this, in terms of the uplift that came this quarter. Assuming that this is happening across the group, I suppose it would be great to know the size of the fixed rate mortgage pool back in your current accounts and also what the current backbook yield is on those products versus the front book, so we can have some estimate of how this component of NII evolves in the next three to four years. The last component of that question is, obviously, we've seen this move into current accounts. As the curve steepens from here and the base that you do believe the curve to steepen, how quickly do you, or how do you decide between the reinvestment rate where you put it at cash at central bank or whether you again reinvest in your own fixed rate mortgage products? Thank you. If I may start, let me answer your question related to FTE development. Of course, we try to keep the numbers of FTEs flat in a way that we, the way how we look at our business is it should be a scalable business, which is anyhow not an easy task because we are in the same situation like all other European banks when it comes to IT legacy. It's a lot of work to further improve efficiency in terms of technology. This is a clear part of our strategy that we, and you've seen some investments this year already, really what we always called investments related to our strategy, that we want to achieve a level of end-to-end processes which should help us to keep FTE development stable in the future, even adding additional business on our balance sheet. This is a very clear goal. Of course, putting aside that we will have roughly 10,000 employees more after the acquisition of Poland. Let me take up your question, which is a very interesting one. Let me say at the start that some of the details I would kindly ask you to take offline with Thomas because of course we could talk about overall interest rate strategy for at least an hour or so. Let me state a few of the most important matters. I think what is helping us at this very point in time, and that's why, for example, Slovakia is outperforming so much, Czech Republic to a part as well, is that we have refixations in durations which are now upward pricing. Mortgages in Slovakia, for example, have a typical fixation period of five years, right? We are now still fixing substantially upwards, and in the same moment, deposits are coming down. That's why a country, a Euro country like Slovakia, is so well performing apart from their excellent new production. That's one effect. The other one, if you look at the details of the NII results of the last couple of quarters, you see that Austria, typically where we have the ALM investments, where we have been booking, of course, also kind of investments going against the extensivities of the Austrian/Euro sensitivity for downward pressure, have been gaining substantially. These are big bond investments, which are in amortized costs, but of course are benefiting from the high investment yields, which leads me to your third point, and that's the steeper curve. Now look, I mean, this is on the trading book. Having been a trader myself in the past, it's not a trading book where we are reacting on a day or a weekly basis, but of course we are very closely looking into the shapes of the yield curves. Of course, sometimes you get it better, sometimes not as good. I think the last 18, 24 months we were anticipating the shape of the yield curve and the spots in the curve where we thought the duration is the best, very well. Currently we have a duration on the overall investment book for roundabout four and a half years, a little bit different from country to country, but overall the yield has of course been shifting upwards. For those who know us for a long time, the investment book has been coming down substantially for many, many years and now has been going further up. For Thomas, I think five years, right? Five years upward trending. On page 43 of the presentation, you find a very good description of how the allocation looks like in terms of geographies as well as, so to say, accounting logics. Can I just, just a very brief follow-up if you don't mind? I suppose that what I'm just trying to figure out is that still a couple of hundred basis points or more in terms of the refixations that we will see over the next few years, or I mean, some quantum would be super beneficial. What I can say from top of my head, in Slovakia, for example, since I was talking about Slovakia, we have another two years to go roughly in terms of positive refixations. Austria is different, as you know, because there is a different mix between variable and fixed loans on the Austrian RBA. It's more fixed on the Sparkassen. It's more variable. That's why we always have a bigger sensitivity there. In terms of absolute numbers, I kindly ask Thomas to follow up with you to give you the breakdown of volumes, country by country. It's no problem. We have all of that. Okay, thank you so much. Welcome. The next question comes from Robert Brzoza from PKO Securities. Please go ahead. Okay. Hello everyone. Thanks for taking up my question. I want to revisit the adjusted profit guidance for 2026 to understand, to see if I got it correctly. Am I right that you see this in adjusted terms at around EUR 4 billion level? If you could provide sort of a rough bridge between the adjusted and reported, should we assume that the potential IFRS 9, EUR 300 million, would be included in that bridge plus the potential EUR 100 million-EUR 200 million additional reorganization and post-acquisition costs? That's on adjusted versus reported 2026 outlook. Related to that, can you reiterate post-acquisition Return on Tangible Equity guidance? Is this guidance based on the adjusted or reported figure? Thank you. Okay. Thanks very much. Again, clarifying what Peter and myself said, and also Alexandra was perfectly explaining the IFRS 3 and IFRS 9 effects and so on. First of all, we don't talk about a guidance here, to be very precise. We talk about our ambition levels. Once we have finalized the closing successfully, certainly when we talk to the market, to you again, end of February, we will translate everything into a real guidance. Just to be precise here, we are always talking about the difference between adjusted and reported. You are perfectly right in your description when we talk about the ballpark EUR 200 million integration costs and the estimated EUR 300 million of the effects, which are long-term, long P&L neutral that Alexandra and Peter explained. We are looking at a reported matter for 2026. Again, guidance and more detailed insights, we will then be providing with the hopefully end of February reporting for the full year 2025. Right. The post-acquisition ROI, I assume that would also be highlighted in February, correct? 19% unchanged. Absolutely correct. Unreported. Unreported, unreported basis. Thank you. We have a follow-up question from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for that. When it comes to the EUR 462 million of overlays and FLIs, Alexandra, is it possible to have a split between the two, how much is the overlays? And could the overlays be used against the EUR 300 million in the two spectrum performing loans in Poland? The other question I have is, how do you think about the fiscal boost from the debt-to-break relaxation in Germany? Do you see any potential positives to lower in Austria and in C? Do you have any idea how this could eventually play out? Thanks. Okay. The breakdown is of Q3. We are talking about 462 of stock. There are 323 FLI, 122 overlays, cyclicals, and some minor other overlays. This is the breakdown. We expect, but this is really only an expectation, in case we can release, or can and have to, it's both, EUR 70 million released until end of 2025. This would be a split of the EUR 70 million between FLI and cyclical overlays. To your question, if we can use going forward for 2026, this year, this against this ECL day one booking, we cannot, yeah? These are two completely different concepts. Of course, a release is always a release. If you add provisions, we cannot net it in the sense of a methodological netting. This is not possible. If I may take the question about Germany, to be clear, we expected a positive impact even a little bit earlier, but it's taking longer due to different reasons. Let me share with you, I had a discussion with the CEO of a construction company, one of our bigger clients, and he's doing roughly 50% of his turnover in Germany. They are building a street in Romania at the moment in Bucharest, and they are able to build a street for 30 km in one shot. In Germany, it's a different frame and a different scheme how things are operated. There you have to tender every 5 km. I don't want to judge it. It could make very much sense how they do it in Germany, but it just takes longer. On the other hand, it should be much more sustainable because to spend this EUR 500 billion, it will take some time. There should be a positive support for economic development. Yes, of course, we're expecting positive impact in countries like Poland, but also Czech Republic, maybe Slovakia. This is something we expect for 2026. I personally expected it already the second half of 2025. You see a slight increase in the sentiment, in the economic sentiment in Germany, but it's so far not the super bazooka booster as it was announced at the beginning. Peter, if I understand you correctly, you expect to see something in 2026 on the back of that. Yes, exactly. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Peter Bosek for any closing remarks. Thank you to all of you. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you for your questions. Stefan and I are very much looking forward to see some of you, at least in person, next week during our roadshow. Let me tell you that we will come up with full year results 2025 on the 26th of February 2026. Very much looking forward to it. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Coruscal, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.

Speaker 10: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Erste Group third quarter 2025 results conference call. I am Sandra, the call's call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants have been listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and zero. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Thomas Sommerauer, Head, Group Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Erste Group third quarter 2025 results conference call. ladies and gentlemen welcome to the erste group third quarter 2025 results conference call I am Sandra, the call's call operator. i am sandra the call's call operator I would like to remind you that all participants have been listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. i would like to remind you that all participants have been listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. the presentation will be followed by a q&a session You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. you can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone For operator assistance, please press star and zero. for operator assistance please press star and zero The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. the conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Thomas Sommerauer, Head, Group Investor Relations. at this time it's my pleasure to hand over to thomas sommerauer head group investor relations Please go ahead, sir. please go ahead sir

Speaker 13: Thank you very much, Sandra, for the kind introduction and also a warm welcome from my end to this third quarter conference call of Erste Group. We follow our usual procedure, according to which Peter Bosek, our Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Dörfler, our Chief Financial Officer, and Alexandra Habeler-Drabek, our Chief Risk Officer, will lead you through a brief presentation highlighting the financial achievements of the third quarter and year to date. After which time, we will be ready to take your questions. Before I hand over to Peter Bosek, the usual highlighting of the disclaimer on page two in regard to forward-looking statements. With this, I hand over to Peter. Thank you very much, Sandra, for the kind introduction and also a warm welcome from my end to this third quarter conference call of Erste Group. We follow our usual procedure, according to which Peter Bosek, our Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Dörfler, our Chief Financial Officer, and Alexandra Habeler-Drabek, our Chief Risk Officer, will lead you through a brief presentation highlighting the financial achievements of the third quarter and year to date. thank you very much sandra for the kind introduction and also a warm welcome from my end to this third quarter conference call of erste group. we follow our usual procedure according to which peter bosek our chief executive officer stefan dörfler our chief financial officer and alexandra habeler-drabek our chief risk officer will lead you through a brief presentation highlighting the financial achievements of the third quarter and year to date After which time, we will be ready to take your questions. after which time we will be ready to take your questions Before I hand over to Peter Bosek, the usual highlighting of the disclaimer on page two in regard to forward-looking statements. before i hand over to peter bosek the usual highlighting of the disclaimer on page two in regard to forward-looking statements With this, I hand over to Peter. with this i hand over to peter

Speaker 14: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome again to our third quarter 2025 conference call. Let me place two messages right at the start. First, we are progressing well towards first-time consolidation of Santander Polska around year-end 2025. We received all competition authority approvals, and it's our current expectation that we will get the nod of the Polish regulator KNF by year-end. The integration work streams with our future colleagues are also right on track, as is our capital build. Actually, it's progressing even better than we have planned. This brings me right to my second message, and this is our existing business is doing exceptionally well. We benefit from strong volume growth. Dynamics across our region, which translates into healthy top-line performance and good bottom-line profitability. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. good morning ladies and gentlemen Welcome again to our third quarter 2025 conference call. welcome again to our third quarter 2025 conference call Let me place two messages right at the start. let me place two messages right at the start First, we are progressing well towards first-time consolidation of Santander Polska around year-end 2025. first we are progressing well towards first-time consolidation of santander polska around year-end 2025 We received all competition authority approvals, and it's our current expectation that we will get the nod of the Polish regulator KNF by year-end. we received all competition authority approvals and it's our current expectation that we will get the nod of the polish regulator knf by year-end The integration work streams with our future colleagues are also right on track, as is our capital build. the integration work streams with our future colleagues are also right on track as is our capital build Actually, it's progressing even better than we have planned. actually it's progressing even better than we have planned This brings me right to my second message, and this is our existing business is doing exceptionally well. this brings me right to my second message and this is our existing business is doing exceptionally well We benefit from strong volume growth. we benefit from strong volume growth Dynamics across our region, which translates into healthy top-line performance and good bottom-line profitability. dynamics across our region which translates into healthy top-line performance and good bottom-line profitability If you add these two things up, the strengths of our existing business and the integration of a leading bank in the larger CEE market, Erste will become a real powerhouse in CEE banking with an unrivaled profitability and growth profile. While it's unlikely that we hit the EUR 4 billion profit mark in 2026 on a reported basis due to the booking of customary one-time items that have to be absorbed with first-time consolidation of such transactions, this doesn't change anything in our ambition to get there on a clean basis already in 2026. Such one-time items include purely technical and over time P&L neutral IFRS effects, such as the measurement of acquired assets at fair value and the resulting immediate recognition of expected credit losses on the newly acquired portfolio, and certainly also one-off integration costs, which we still see around EUR 200 million. If you add these two things up, the strengths of our existing business and the integration of a leading bank in the larger CEE market, Erste will become a real powerhouse in CEE banking with an unrivaled profitability and growth profile. if you add these two things up the strengths of our existing business and the integration of a leading bank in the larger cee market erste will become a real powerhouse in cee banking with an unrivaled profitability and growth profile While it's unlikely that we hit the EUR 4 billion profit mark in 2026 on a reported basis due to the booking of customary one-time items that have to be absorbed with first-time consolidation of such transactions, this doesn't change anything in our ambition to get there on a clean basis already in 2026. while it's unlikely that we hit the eur 4 billion profit mark in 2026 on a reported basis due to the booking of customary one-time items that have to be absorbed with first-time consolidation of such transactions this doesn't change anything in our ambition to get there on a clean basis already in 2026 Such one-time items include purely technical and over time P&L neutral IFRS effects, such as the measurement of acquired assets at fair value and the resulting immediate recognition of expected credit losses on the newly acquired portfolio, and certainly also one-off integration costs, which we still see around EUR 200 million. such one-time items include purely technical and over time p&l neutral ifrs effects such as the measurement of acquired assets at fair value and the resulting immediate recognition of expected credit losses on the newly acquired portfolio and certainly also one-off integration costs which we still see around eur 200 million With this, let me highlight a couple of points of our third quarter performance. For the first time ever, we posted quarterly revenues north of EUR 2.9 billion. This resulted from a record net interest income of close to EUR 2 billion, supported by strong loan growth, a stable interest rate environment, and continued deposit pricing strengths. In addition, we printed fees of almost EUR 800 million, also a quarterly record. On the cost side, we probably could have done a touch better, but this is definitely an area where we still have a potential going into the fourth quarter. Despite elevated costs, quarterly operating profit was also in record territory by a comfortable margin. Risk costs remained moderate, and we are fully in line with our guidance. We again benefited from a positive one-off in the other operating result despite higher banking taxes. With this, let me highlight a couple of points of our third quarter performance. with this let me highlight a couple of points of our third quarter performance For the first time ever, we posted quarterly revenues north of EUR 2.9 billion. for the first time ever we posted quarterly revenues north of eur 2.9 billion This resulted from a record net interest income of close to EUR 2 billion, supported by strong loan growth, a stable interest rate environment, and continued deposit pricing strengths. this resulted from a record net interest income of close to eur 2 billion supported by strong loan growth a stable interest rate environment and continued deposit pricing strengths In addition, we printed fees of almost EUR 800 million, also a quarterly record. in addition we printed fees of almost eur 800 million also a quarterly record On the cost side, we probably could have done a touch better, but this is definitely an area where we still have a potential going into the fourth quarter. on the cost side we probably could have done a touch better but this is definitely an area where we still have a potential going into the fourth quarter Despite elevated costs, quarterly operating profit was also in record territory by a comfortable margin. despite elevated costs quarterly operating profit was also in record territory by a comfortable margin Risk costs remained moderate, and we are fully in line with our guidance. risk costs remained moderate and we are fully in line with our guidance We again benefited from a positive one-off in the other operating result despite higher banking taxes. we again benefited from a positive one-off in the other operating result despite higher banking taxes Altogether, we achieved an excellent Return on Tangible Equity of 18% flat in the third quarter. Based on these numbers, we slightly tweaked our 2025 guidance. We now see net interest income growing by more than 2% instead of more than 0%. Consequently, we rather see the cost-income ratio at around 48% instead of below 50%. Furthermore, we are raising our year-end CET1 ratio projection to higher than 18.5% due to continued strong capital build in the case first-time consolidation has not happened by this time. All other 2025 guidance items, most of which we already upgraded a quarter ago, are hereby confirmed. When analyzing our P&L metrics, I'm on page five in the meantime, we see continued net interest margin recovery. Altogether, we achieved an excellent Return on Tangible Equity of 18% flat in the third quarter. altogether we achieved an excellent return on tangible equity of 18% flat in the third quarter Based on these numbers, we slightly tweaked our 2025 guidance. based on these numbers we slightly tweaked our 2025 guidance We now see net interest income growing by more than 2% instead of more than 0%. we now see net interest income growing by more than 2% instead of more than 0% Consequently, we rather see the cost-income ratio at around 48% instead of below 50%. consequently we rather see the cost-income ratio at around 48% instead of below 50% Furthermore, we are raising our year-end CET1 ratio projection to higher than 18.5% due to continued strong capital build in the case first-time consolidation has not happened by this time. furthermore we are raising our year-end cet1 ratio projection to higher than 18.5% due to continued strong capital build in the case first-time consolidation has not happened by this time All other 2025 guidance items, most of which we already upgraded a quarter ago, are hereby confirmed. all other 2025 guidance items most of which we already upgraded a quarter ago are hereby confirmed When analyzing our P&L metrics, I'm on page five in the meantime, we see continued net interest margin recovery. when analyzing our p&l metrics i'm on page five in the meantime we see continued net interest margin recovery This was not necessarily driven by an expansion of product spreads, but rather by the factors I already mentioned, like higher NII on the back of loan growth and strong deposit pricing power, in addition to still muted interest-bearing asset inflation. The latter was supported by limited growth in financial assets and interbank assets in the past quarter. Operating efficiency also remained at a sound level, just shy of 47%, as did risk costs at somewhat above 20 basis points. Banking taxes went up in the past quarter due to a doubling of the tax rate in Romania starting in July. Quarterly earnings per share also rose despite reported net profit being down slightly quarter-on-quarter due to the non-deduction of AT1 dividends in the third quarter. The same effects also explain the rise of the Return on Tangible Equity to 18%. This was not necessarily driven by an expansion of product spreads, but rather by the factors I already mentioned, like higher NII on the back of loan growth and strong deposit pricing power, in addition to still muted interest-bearing asset inflation. this was not necessarily driven by an expansion of product spreads but rather by the factors i already mentioned like higher nii on the back of loan growth and strong deposit pricing power in addition to still muted interest-bearing asset inflation The latter was supported by limited growth in financial assets and interbank assets in the past quarter. the latter was supported by limited growth in financial assets and interbank assets in the past quarter Operating efficiency also remained at a sound level, just shy of 47%, as did risk costs at somewhat above 20 basis points. operating efficiency also remained at a sound level just shy of 47% as did risk costs at somewhat above 20 basis points Banking taxes went up in the past quarter due to a doubling of the tax rate in Romania starting in July. banking taxes went up in the past quarter due to a doubling of the tax rate in romania starting in july Quarterly earnings per share also rose despite reported net profit being down slightly quarter-on-quarter due to the non-deduction of AT1 dividends in the third quarter. quarterly earnings per share also rose despite reported net profit being down slightly quarter-on-quarter due to the non-deduction of at1 dividends in the third quarter The same effects also explain the rise of the Return on Tangible Equity to 18%. the same effects also explain the rise of the return on tangible equity to 18% I don't want to sound repetitive, but clearly what had positive effects in our P&L is also reflected in the year-to-date balance sheet development. On page six, you can see the main driver of asset-side growth was higher customer loan volumes. In fact, since the start of the year, added almost EUR 10 billion to our loan stock. Stefan will tell you more where it exactly came from later. For now, I will only say that the positive trends of the previous quarters, good growth across Central and Eastern Europe, and solid growth in Austria, and better growth in retail and corporate business continued in the third quarter. Total customer deposits grew by 2.5% year-to-date, while core retail and SME deposits, which includes deposits held in the savings banks, increased by 2.4% over the same time frame. I don't want to sound repetitive, but clearly what had positive effects in our P&L is also reflected in the year-to-date balance sheet development. i don't want to sound repetitive but clearly what had positive effects in our p&l is also reflected in the year-to-date balance sheet development On page six, you can see the main driver of asset-side growth was higher customer loan volumes. on page six you can see the main driver of asset-side growth was higher customer loan volumes In fact, since the start of the year, added almost EUR 10 billion to our loan stock. in fact since the start of the year added almost eur 10 billion to our loan stock Stefan will tell you more where it exactly came from later. stefan will tell you more where it exactly came from later For now, I will only say that the positive trends of the previous quarters, good growth across Central and Eastern Europe, and solid growth in Austria, and better growth in retail and corporate business continued in the third quarter. for now i will only say that the positive trends of the previous quarters good growth across central and eastern europe and solid growth in austria and better growth in retail and corporate business continued in the third quarter Total customer deposits grew by 2.5% year-to-date, while core retail and SME deposits, which includes deposits held in the savings banks, increased by 2.4% over the same time frame. total customer deposits grew by 2.5% year-to-date while core retail and sme deposits which includes deposits held in the savings banks increased by 2.4% over the same time frame The retail segment on its own saw deposit growth by 3.5% since the start of the year. All in all, we are seeing healthy volume growth for the past couple of quarters now, and the third quarter was no exception. This increase looks like a sustainable trend. This makes us confident that we will comfortably deliver our full-year guidance of growing customer loans by more than 5%. Looking at the same key balance sheet metrics on slide seven, my key message to you is that all of them are pretty much in a sweet spot territory. The loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 92%. Here, we saw a little bit of an uptick since the start of the year due to strong loan growth dynamics and, compared to that, somewhat slower growth in deposits. The retail segment on its own saw deposit growth by 3.5% since the start of the year. the retail segment on its own saw deposit growth by 3.5% since the start of the year All in all, we are seeing healthy volume growth for the past couple of quarters now, and the third quarter was no exception. all in all we are seeing healthy volume growth for the past couple of quarters now and the third quarter was no exception This increase looks like a sustainable trend. this increase looks like a sustainable trend This makes us confident that we will comfortably deliver our full-year guidance of growing customer loans by more than 5%. this makes us confident that we will comfortably deliver our full-year guidance of growing customer loans by more than 5% Looking at the same key balance sheet metrics on slide seven, my key message to you is that all of them are pretty much in a sweet spot territory. looking at the same key balance sheet metrics on slide seven my key message to you is that all of them are pretty much in a sweet spot territory The loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 92%. the loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 92% Here, we saw a little bit of an uptick since the start of the year due to strong loan growth dynamics and, compared to that, somewhat slower growth in deposits. here we saw a little bit of an uptick since the start of the year due to strong loan growth dynamics and compared to that somewhat slower growth in deposits The asset quality backdrop remained excellent in the third quarter, with a stable NPL ratio of 2.5% and unchanged coverage versus the previous quarter of about 74%. Importantly, the asset quality situation in Austria remained stable despite the weak economic backdrop. Asset quality across Central and Eastern Europe remained very strong, and the Czech Republic and Hungary are doing particularly well. As usual, Alexandra will provide you further details on credit risk later. Our capital position continued to expand in the run-up for the first-time consolidation of our Polish position, expected for around year-end of 2025. On a pro forma basis, we added another 74 basis points to our CET1 ratio in the third quarter, which now stands at 18.2%. Quarterly profit inclusion, the lack of any dividend accrual, and the first positive impact from securitization were key drivers of this strong print. The asset quality backdrop remained excellent in the third quarter, with a stable NPL ratio of 2.5% and unchanged coverage versus the previous quarter of about 74%. the asset quality backdrop remained excellent in the third quarter with a stable npl ratio of 2.5% and unchanged coverage versus the previous quarter of about 74% Importantly, the asset quality situation in Austria remained stable despite the weak economic backdrop. importantly the asset quality situation in austria remained stable despite the weak economic backdrop Asset quality across Central and Eastern Europe remained very strong, and the Czech Republic and Hungary are doing particularly well. asset quality across central and eastern europe remained very strong and the czech republic and hungary are doing particularly well As usual, Alexandra will provide you further details on credit risk later. as usual alexandra will provide you further details on credit risk later Our capital position continued to expand in the run-up for the first-time consolidation of our Polish position, expected for around year-end of 2025. our capital position continued to expand in the run-up for the first-time consolidation of our polish position expected for around year-end of 2025 On a pro forma basis, we added another 74 basis points to our CET1 ratio in the third quarter, which now stands at 18.2%. on a pro forma basis we added another 74 basis points to our cet1 ratio in the third quarter which now stands at 18.2% Quarterly profit inclusion, the lack of any dividend accrual, and the first positive impact from securitization were key drivers of this strong print. quarterly profit inclusion the lack of any dividend accrual and the first positive impact from securitization were key drivers of this strong print The lower left-hand chart on the reported CET1 number, where third-quarter profit is not included due to not being reviewed. With this, let's now examine the macroeconomic environment and, in particular, the outlook for 2026. I'm on slide nine now. In the past quarter, we saw continuation of geopolitical and trade tensions, which prolonged the weakness of German industry. The fiscal spending plans announced in spring of this year didn't yet show any noticeable positive effect to date other than a slight improvement in sentiment. Accordingly, the German economy is expected to flatline in 2025. Due to this and necessary fiscal consolidation measures, the Austrian economy also struggled to produce growth. The situation was different in Central and Eastern Europe, where moderate growth in the range of 1%-3% is expected in 2025. The lower left-hand chart on the reported CET1 number, where third-quarter profit is not included due to not being reviewed. the lower left-hand chart on the reported cet1 number, where third-quarter profit is not included due to not being reviewed With this, let's now examine the macroeconomic environment and, in particular, the outlook for 2026. with this let's now examine the macroeconomic environment and in particular the outlook for 2026 I'm on slide nine now. i'm on slide nine now In the past quarter, we saw continuation of geopolitical and trade tensions, which prolonged the weakness of German industry. in the past quarter we saw continuation of geopolitical and trade tensions which prolonged the weakness of german industry The fiscal spending plans announced in spring of this year didn't yet show any noticeable positive effect to date other than a slight improvement in sentiment. the fiscal spending plans announced in spring of this year didn't yet show any noticeable positive effect to date other than a slight improvement in sentiment Accordingly, the German economy is expected to flatline in 2025. accordingly the german economy is expected to flatline in 2025 Due to this and necessary fiscal consolidation measures, the Austrian economy also struggled to produce growth. due to this and necessary fiscal consolidation measures the austrian economy also struggled to produce growth The situation was different in Central and Eastern Europe, where moderate growth in the range of 1% - 3% is expected in 2025. the situation was different in central and eastern europe where moderate growth in the range of 1% - 3% is expected in 2025 I would like to highlight the good economic performance of the Czech Republic in this context, which is still our most important CEE market. A key pillar of strength was the healthy labor market across our region, and that includes Austria. Consumer price inflation remained relatively elevated in our region, impacted by high energy prices, but also good domestic demand. Fiscal and external balances were mixed, with once again the Czech Republic standing out in terms of fiscal prudence and a positive external balance. When looking forward to 2026, current forecasts project higher growth rates in most of our markets and at worst, a stable growth performance. Consumer price inflation should ease somewhat, and the labor markets are expected to remain in good shape. Fiscal deficits should improve, especially in Romania, and overall indebtedness should also remain at sustainable levels. I would like to highlight the good economic performance of the Czech Republic in this context, which is still our most important CEE market. i would like to highlight the good economic performance of the czech republic in this context which is still our most important cee market A key pillar of strength was the healthy labor market across our region, and that includes Austria. a key pillar of strength was the healthy labor market across our region and that includes austria Consumer price inflation remained relatively elevated in our region, impacted by high energy prices, but also good domestic demand. consumer price inflation remained relatively elevated in our region impacted by high energy prices but also good domestic demand Fiscal and external balances were mixed, with once again the Czech Republic standing out in terms of fiscal prudence and a positive external balance. fiscal and external balances were mixed with once again the czech republic standing out in terms of fiscal prudence and a positive external balance When looking forward to 2026, current forecasts project higher growth rates in most of our markets and at worst, a stable growth performance. when looking forward to 2026 current forecasts project higher growth rates in most of our markets and at worst a stable growth performance Consumer price inflation should ease somewhat, and the labor markets are expected to remain in good shape. consumer price inflation should ease somewhat and the labor markets are expected to remain in good shape Fiscal deficits should improve, especially in Romania, and overall indebtedness should also remain at sustainable levels. fiscal deficits should improve especially in romania and overall indebtedness should also remain at sustainable levels This is an environment that works well for us and should ensure that we will continue to grow profitably in 2026, despite all uncertainties that, unfortunately, more than ever are a feature of doing business. Despite the mixed macro backdrop, retail business continued to do very well in the third quarter. I'm on page 10 now, with our balanced growth in retail loans, with housing and consumer finance contributing to growth in equal measure, both rising in higher single digits year-on-year. Asset quality remained stable at low levels. When it comes to retail liabilities, deposits also grew by a significant 6.4% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in current account and savings deposits, while term deposits were down year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter, in line with trends we have already observed for a couple of quarters now. This is an environment that works well for us and should ensure that we will continue to grow profitably in 2026, despite all uncertainties that, unfortunately, more than ever are a feature of doing business. this is an environment that works well for us and should ensure that we will continue to grow profitably in 2026 despite all uncertainties that unfortunately more than ever are a feature of doing business Despite the mixed macro backdrop, retail business continued to do very well in the third quarter. despite the mixed macro backdrop retail business continued to do very well in the third quarter I'm on page 10 now, with our balanced growth in retail loans, with housing and consumer finance contributing to growth in equal measure, both rising in higher single digits year-on-year. i'm on page 10 now with our balanced growth in retail loans with housing and consumer finance contributing to growth in equal measure both rising in higher single digits year-on-year Asset quality remained stable at low levels. asset quality remained stable at low levels When it comes to retail liabilities, deposits also grew by a significant 6.4% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in current account and savings deposits, while term deposits were down year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter, in line with trends we have already observed for a couple of quarters now. when it comes to retail liabilities deposits also grew by a significant 6.4% year-on-year mainly due to the increase in current account and savings deposits while term deposits were down year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter in line with trends we have already observed for a couple of quarters now From the bank's point of view, this trend is positive as the shift towards lower price deposits decreased funding costs and supports net interest income. The good news doesn't stop here. We also saw continuous growth in our balance sheets, in off-balance sheet customer funds. Security savings plans that enabled customers to build long-term wealth in an easy-to-manage digital format topped 1.9 million at the end of the third quarter, and they have generated gross fund sales in excess of EUR 1.1 billion year-to-date. George, our digital platform for retail clients, continued on its growth path. The number of onboarded users reached 11.2 million in the third quarter, and the digital sales ratio in the retail business equaled 65.8%. Going forward, our ambition is unchanged to develop George into a fully-fledged financial advisor in order to give even larger parts of our client population access to high-quality financial advice. From the bank's point of view, this trend is positive as the shift towards lower price deposits decreased funding costs and supports net interest income. from the bank's point of view this trend is positive as the shift towards lower price deposits decreased funding costs and supports net interest income The good news doesn't stop here. the good news doesn't stop here We also saw continuous growth in our balance sheets, in off-balance sheet customer funds. we also saw continuous growth in our balance sheets in off-balance sheet customer funds Security savings plans that enabled customers to build long-term wealth in an easy-to-manage digital format topped 1.9 million at the end of the third quarter, and they have generated gross fund sales in excess of EUR 1.1 billion year-to-date. security savings plans that enabled customers to build long-term wealth in an easy-to-manage digital format topped 1.9 million at the end of the third quarter and they have generated gross fund sales in excess of eur 1.1 billion year-to-date George, our digital platform for retail clients, continued on its growth path. george our digital platform for retail clients continued on its growth path The number of onboarded users reached 11.2 million in the third quarter, and the digital sales ratio in the retail business equaled 65.8%. the number of onboarded users reached 11.2 million in the third quarter and the digital sales ratio in the retail business equaled 65.8% Going forward, our ambition is unchanged to develop George into a fully-fledged financial advisor in order to give even larger parts of our client population access to high-quality financial advice. going forward our ambition is unchanged to develop george into a fully-fledged financial advisor in order to give even larger parts of our client population access to high-quality financial advice In the corporate segment, I'm on page 11 already. Loans were up 6.9% year-on-year and 1.3% quarter-on-quarter. Growth was well distributed among all four business lines in the third quarter, while year-on-year the large corporate business made the best contribution, expanding by 10.4%. In terms of products, there was definitely more demand for investment loans than in the third quarter, while year-on-year there was a good balance between investments and working capital loans. The market's business built on its strong start in 2025 with our ECM and DCM teams successfully executing 236 transactions with an issuance volume of EUR 173 billion year-to-date. In asset management business, we reached a historical milestone in the third quarter with assets under management topping EUR 100 billion for the first time ever. This achievement will support future fee growth. With that, I hand over to Stefan for the presentation of the quarterly operating trends. In the corporate segment, I'm on page 11 already. in the corporate segment i'm on page 11 already Loans were up 6.9% year-on-year and 1.3% quarter-on-quarter. loans were up 6.9% year-on-year and 1.3% quarter-on-quarter Growth was well distributed among all four business lines in the third quarter, while year-on-year the large corporate business made the best contribution, expanding by 10.4%. growth was well distributed among all four business lines in the third quarter while year-on-year the large corporate business made the best contribution expanding by 10.4% In terms of products, there was definitely more demand for investment loans than in the third quarter, while year-on-year there was a good balance between investments and working capital loans. in terms of products there was definitely more demand for investment loans than in the third quarter while year-on-year there was a good balance between investments and working capital loans The market's business built on its strong start in 2025 with our ECM and DCM teams successfully executing 236 transactions with an issuance volume of EUR 173 billion year-to-date. the market's business built on its strong start in 2025 with our ecm and dcm teams successfully executing 236 transactions with an issuance volume of eur 173 billion year-to-date In asset management business, we reached a historical milestone in the third quarter with assets under management topping EUR 100 billion for the first time ever. in asset management business we reached a historical milestone in the third quarter with assets under management topping eur 100 billion for the first time ever This achievement will support future fee growth. this achievement will support future fee growth With that, I hand over to Stefan for the presentation of the quarterly operating trends. with that i hand over to stefan for the presentation of the quarterly operating trends

Speaker 4: Thanks very much, Peter, and also a warm welcome to this call from my side. Please follow me to page 13. When analyzing the loan volume performance by country, I would also single out the Czech business in the same way as Peter did in the context of macro. Not only is it our largest and most profitable market in Central and Eastern Europe, but it is also the most consistent performer when it comes to loan growth. In the third quarter, we continued to see growth across the board there. Demand was strong across all product categories with good balance between investment loans and working capital facilities in the corporate business, while mortgages continued to lead the way in the retail space with annual growth in the mid-teens. Mortgages were also the key growth driver in Slovakia, increasing by almost 10% year-on-year. Thanks very much, Peter, and also a warm welcome to this call from my side. thanks very much peter and also a warm welcome to this call from my side Please follow me to page 13. please follow me to page 13 When analyzing the loan volume performance by country, I would also single out the Czech business in the same way as Peter did in the context of macro. when analyzing the loan volume performance by country i would also single out the czech business in the same way as peter did in the context of macro Not only is it our largest and most profitable market in Central and Eastern Europe, but it is also the most consistent performer when it comes to loan growth. not only is it our largest and most profitable market in central and eastern europe but it is also the most consistent performer when it comes to loan growth In the third quarter, we continued to see growth across the board there. in the third quarter we continued to see growth across the board there Demand was strong across all product categories with good balance between investment loans and working capital facilities in the corporate business, while mortgages continued to lead the way in the retail space with annual growth in the mid-teens. demand was strong across all product categories with good balance between investment loans and working capital facilities in the corporate business while mortgages continued to lead the way in the retail space with annual growth in the mid-teens Mortgages were also the key growth driver in Slovakia, increasing by almost 10% year-on-year. mortgages were also the key growth driver in slovakia increasing by almost 10% year-on-year Corporate loan demand was heavily tilted towards working capital facilities there. In Hungary, the retail business clearly outperformed the corporate business with both mortgages and consumer loans growing in the mid-teens year-on-year. Please bear in mind that euro growth rates are somewhat flattered by the strong appreciation of Hungarian forint over the past months, but even when adjusting for this, retail growth was really strong. In Croatia, the development was similar to that in Hungary, with growth being better in retail than in corporate business. Within retail, mortgages were ahead. When we said in July that mortgage lending in Central and Eastern Europe is back, third-quarter data provides further evidence that this trend is strong and has legs. In our Austrian retail and SME operations, Erste Bank Österreich and the savings banks, volume growth is slowly but surely approaching the mid-single digits. Actually, not bad given the lackluster economic backdrop. Corporate loan demand was heavily tilted towards working capital facilities there. corporate loan demand was heavily tilted towards working capital facilities there In Hungary, the retail business clearly outperformed the corporate business with both mortgages and consumer loans growing in the mid-teens year-on-year. in hungary the retail business clearly outperformed the corporate business with both mortgages and consumer loans growing in the mid-teens year-on-year Please bear in mind that euro growth rates are somewhat flattered by the strong appreciation of Hungarian forint over the past months, but even when adjusting for this, retail growth was really strong. please bear in mind that euro growth rates are somewhat flattered by the strong appreciation of hungarian forint over the past months but even when adjusting for this retail growth was really strong In Croatia, the development was similar to that in Hungary, with growth being better in retail than in corporate business. in croatia the development was similar to that in hungary with growth being better in retail than in corporate business Within retail, mortgages were ahead. within retail mortgages were ahead When we said in July that mortgage lending in Central and Eastern Europe is back, third-quarter data provides further evidence that this trend is strong and has legs. when we said in july that mortgage lending in central and eastern europe is back third-quarter data provides further evidence that this trend is strong and has legs In our Austrian retail and SME operations, Erste Bank Österreich and the savings banks, volume growth is slowly but surely approaching the mid-single digits. in our austrian retail and sme operations erste bank österreich and the savings banks volume growth is slowly but surely approaching the mid-single digits Actually, not bad given the lackluster economic backdrop. actually not bad given the lackluster economic backdrop Interestingly, growth was somewhat better in the corporate business than in retail, with especially good demand for investment loans. Given the strong loan growth year-to-date, we feel very comfortable with our greater than 5% guidance for 2025. On the liability side, see page 14, the trends we have observed for the past couple of quarters also continued in the third quarter of 2025. Importantly, the favorable structural shift in our vast retail deposit base of almost EUR 170 billion from term deposits back to current account deposits and savings accounts, or put differently, from the most expensive to cheaper retail deposits, showed no signs of slowing. A similar trend was visible in the corporate business with overnight deposits increasing, while term deposits declined year-on-year. Interestingly, growth was somewhat better in the corporate business than in retail, with especially good demand for investment loans. interestingly growth was somewhat better in the corporate business than in retail with especially good demand for investment loans Given the strong loan growth year-to-date, we feel very comfortable with our greater than 5% guidance for 2025. given the strong loan growth year-to-date we feel very comfortable with our greater than 5% guidance for 2025 On the liability side, see page 14, the trends we have observed for the past couple of quarters also continued in the third quarter of 2025. on the liability side see page 14 the trends we have observed for the past couple of quarters also continued in the third quarter of 2025 Importantly, the favorable structural shift in our vast retail deposit base of almost EUR 170 billion from term deposits back to current account deposits and savings accounts, or put differently, from the most expensive to cheaper retail deposits, showed no signs of slowing. importantly the favorable structural shift in our vast retail deposit base of almost eur 170 billion from term deposits back to current account deposits and savings accounts or put differently from the most expensive to cheaper retail deposits showed no signs of slowing A similar trend was visible in the corporate business with overnight deposits increasing, while term deposits declined year-on-year. a similar trend was visible in the corporate business with overnight deposits increasing while term deposits declined year-on-year Consequently, the cost of deposits has declined to the lowest level in almost three years, with corresponding positive read across to net interest income, as we will see shortly. In terms of total deposit volumes, we are up 3.4% year-on-year and flat compared to the second quarter. Growth was driven by core retail, SME, and savings banks deposits, up 5.2% over the past 12 months. While deposits in the corporate segment flatlined over the same period, due in particular to offsetting volatility in the large corporate and public sector subsegments. In terms of geographic segment highlights, annual growth was satisfactory across the retail and SME businesses in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe, while the year-on-year decline in the other Austria segment was entirely attributable to lower non-core financial institution deposits. Let me now move to net interest income on page 15. Consequently, the cost of deposits has declined to the lowest level in almost three years, with corresponding positive read across to net interest income, as we will see shortly. consequently the cost of deposits has declined to the lowest level in almost three years with corresponding positive read across to net interest income as we will see shortly In terms of total deposit volumes, we are up 3.4% year-on-year and flat compared to the second quarter. in terms of total deposit volumes we are up 3.4% year-on-year and flat compared to the second quarter Growth was driven by core retail, SME, and savings banks deposits, up 5.2% over the past 12 months. growth was driven by core retail sme and savings banks deposits up 5.2% over the past 12 months While deposits in the corporate segment flatlined over the same period, due in particular to offsetting volatility in the large corporate and public sector subsegments. while deposits in the corporate segment flatlined over the same period due in particular to offsetting volatility in the large corporate and public sector subsegments In terms of geographic segment highlights, annual growth was satisfactory across the retail and SME businesses in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe, while the year-on-year decline in the other Austria segment was entirely attributable to lower non-core financial institution deposits. in terms of geographic segment highlights annual growth was satisfactory across the retail and sme businesses in austria and central and eastern europe while the year-on-year decline in the other austria segment was entirely attributable to lower non-core financial institution deposits Let me now move to net interest income on page 15. let me now move to net interest income on page 15 We have already talked about many NII drivers, be it strong loan growth, lower cost of deposits, or a stabilization in the interest rate environment. Add to that a steepening of yield curves allowing for better reinvestment opportunities and tighter funding spreads. You have all ingredients for posting record quarterly net interest income. Record NII of close to EUR 2 billion, in fact, up 3.7% year-on-year and also up 3.1% quarter-on-quarter. Net interest margin also edged up quarter-on-quarter thanks to a muted increase in interest-bearing assets on the back of lower interbank business volumes. In terms of geographic highlights, net interest income at the Austrian retail and SME business continued to stabilize on the back of significant downward repricing of deposits, while downward repricing of variable-rate loans came almost to a standstill. We have already talked about many NII drivers, be it strong loan growth, lower cost of deposits, or a stabilization in the interest rate environment. we have already talked about many nii drivers be it strong loan growth lower cost of deposits or a stabilization in the interest rate environment Add to that a steepening of yield curves allowing for better reinvestment opportunities and tighter funding spreads. add to that a steepening of yield curves allowing for better reinvestment opportunities and tighter funding spreads You have all ingredients for posting record quarterly net interest income. you have all ingredients for posting record quarterly net interest income Record NII of close to EUR 2 billion, in fact, up 3.7% year-on-year and also up 3.1% quarter-on-quarter. record nii of close to eur 2 billion in fact up 3.7% year-on-year and also up 3.1% quarter-on-quarter Net interest margin also edged up quarter-on-quarter thanks to a muted increase in interest-bearing assets on the back of lower interbank business volumes. net interest margin also edged up quarter-on-quarter thanks to a muted increase in interest-bearing assets on the back of lower interbank business volumes In terms of geographic highlights, net interest income at the Austrian retail and SME business continued to stabilize on the back of significant downward repricing of deposits, while downward repricing of variable-rate loans came almost to a standstill. in terms of geographic highlights net interest income at the austrian retail and sme business continued to stabilize on the back of significant downward repricing of deposits while downward repricing of variable-rate loans came almost to a standstill In Czech Republic and Slovakia, continued deposit repricing also had a positive impact year-on-year, compounded by the continued upward repricing of mortgage loans due to refixations at higher levels. The other segment, which includes holding asset liability management operations, benefited from higher income, mainly from government bond investments. A final comment on NII: our sensitivity to rate cuts is more or less unchanged at about, or even slightly below, EUR 200 million for a 100 basis point instant downward rate shock, with the bulk of the impact expected at the minority-owned savings banks, so no big deal for shareholders. As a result of all of this, we are upgrading again our 2025 outlook for net interest income from previously growth of higher than 0% to growth of higher than 2%. Flipping to fees on page 16 and then onto a blockbuster, sorry, fee quarter. In Czech Republic and Slovakia, continued deposit repricing also had a positive impact year-on-year, compounded by the continued upward repricing of mortgage loans due to refixations at higher levels. in czech republic and slovakia continued deposit repricing also had a positive impact year-on-year compounded by the continued upward repricing of mortgage loans due to refixations at higher levels The other segment, which includes holding asset liability management operations, benefited from higher income, mainly from government bond investments. the other segment which includes holding asset liability management operations benefited from higher income mainly from government bond investments A final comment on NII: our sensitivity to rate cuts is more or less unchanged at about, or even slightly below, EUR 200 million for a 100 basis point instant downward rate shock, with the bulk of the impact expected at the minority-owned savings banks, so no big deal for shareholders. a final comment on nii our sensitivity to rate cuts is more or less unchanged at about or even slightly below eur 200 million for a 100 basis point instant downward rate shock with the bulk of the impact expected at the minority-owned savings banks so no big deal for shareholders As a result of all of this, we are upgrading again our 2025 outlook for net interest income from previously growth of higher than 0% to growth of higher than 2%. as a result of all of this we are upgrading again our 2025 outlook for net interest income from previously growth of higher than 0% to growth of higher than 2% Flipping to fees on page 16 and then onto a blockbuster, sorry, fee quarter. flipping to fees on page 16 and then onto a blockbuster sorry fee quarter Net fee income rose by a massive 8.6% year-on-year and increased by 4.8% quarter-on-quarter. With this, we set a new quarterly record of almost EUR 800 million. In terms of growth drivers, the story is by and large unchanged. Year-on-year, fees generated by payment services and securities business led the way, even though the increase in payment fees is understated by the shift of loan account fees from payment to lending as of first quarter 2025. I would not like to highlight individual countries in this context, as we saw encouraging trends across the board, but rather add a comment to the Other Austria segment. In addition to good asset management sales, the year-on-year jump there is also explained by the integration of new asset management companies, so bolt-on acquisitions have worked very well there. Net fee income rose by a massive 8.6% year-on-year and increased by 4.8% quarter-on-quarter. net fee income rose by a massive 8.6% year-on-year and increased by 4.8% quarter-on-quarter With this, we set a new quarterly record of almost EUR 800 million. with this we set a new quarterly record of almost eur 800 million In terms of growth drivers, the story is by and large unchanged. in terms of growth drivers the story is by and large unchanged Year-on-year, fees generated by payment services and securities business led the way, even though the increase in payment fees is understated by the shift of loan account fees from payment to lending as of first quarter 2025. year-on-year fees generated by payment services and securities business led the way even though the increase in payment fees is understated by the shift of loan account fees from payment to lending as of first quarter 2025 I would not like to highlight individual countries in this context, as we saw encouraging trends across the board, but rather add a comment to the Other Austria segment. i would not like to highlight individual countries in this context as we saw encouraging trends across the board but rather add a comment to the other austria segment In addition to good asset management sales, the year-on-year jump there is also explained by the integration of new asset management companies, so bolt-on acquisitions have worked very well there. in addition to good asset management sales the year-on-year jump there is also explained by the integration of new asset management companies so bolt-on acquisitions have worked very well there Quarter-on-quarter, the drivers were pretty much the same as year-on-year, with excellent performances registered in payment services as well as securities business. Based on the strong year-to-date performance, we confirm our full-year guidance of growth comfortably exceeding 5% in 2025. Let me turn to operating expenses on slide 17. Quarter-on-quarter costs were unchanged, both in terms of absolute amount and structure. Somewhat higher IT expenses were offset by lower personnel costs. Other than that, there were no major developments. Year-on-year cost inflation remained elevated compared to third quarters of 2024 and 2025, and at 6.8% looking at the first three quarters, respectively. The reasons are well known, ranging from higher staff costs to higher IT consulting expenses. Very importantly, we do believe that with this, we have seen the peak of cost inflation, and in the fourth quarter of 2025, the year-on-year cost updraft will decline significantly. Quarter-on-quarter, the drivers were pretty much the same as year-on-year, with excellent performances registered in payment services as well as securities business. quarter-on-quarter the drivers were pretty much the same as year-on-year with excellent performances registered in payment services as well as securities business Based on the strong year-to-date performance, we confirm our full-year guidance of growth comfortably exceeding 5% in 2025. based on the strong year-to-date performance we confirm our full-year guidance of growth comfortably exceeding 5% in 2025 Let me turn to operating expenses on slide 17. let me turn to operating expenses on slide 17 Quarter-on-quarter costs were unchanged, both in terms of absolute amount and structure. quarter-on-quarter costs were unchanged both in terms of absolute amount and structure Somewhat higher IT expenses were offset by lower personnel costs. somewhat higher it expenses were offset by lower personnel costs Other than that, there were no major developments. other than that there were no major developments Year-on-year cost inflation remained elevated compared to third quarters of 2024 and 2025, and at 6.8% looking at the first three quarters, respectively. year-on-year cost inflation remained elevated compared to third quarters of 2024 and 2025 and at 6.8% looking at the first three quarters respectively The reasons are well known, ranging from higher staff costs to higher IT consulting expenses. the reasons are well known ranging from higher staff costs to higher it consulting expenses Very importantly, we do believe that with this, we have seen the peak of cost inflation, and in the fourth quarter of 2025, the year-on-year cost updraft will decline significantly. very importantly we do believe that with this we have seen the peak of cost inflation and in the fourth quarter of 2025 the year-on-year cost updraft will decline significantly Consequently, it is still our ambition to get as close to the 5% guidance in 2025 as possible. Actually, the only moving target in this context is the size and timing of the booking of integration costs related to the Santander Polska acquisition. Looking further out and limiting my comments to existing ST operations, we do believe that cost growth will decline materially from 2025 levels in 2026, which bodes well for positive operating leverage, given that we also have a strong top-line momentum. Talking about operating performance, we move to page 18 and can conclude that the top-line performance is the story of the third quarter. We posted record quarterly revenues, which fully offset elevated costs, resulting in record operating profit. The cost-income ratio also improved to 46.7% for the quarter. Consequently, it is still our ambition to get as close to the 5% guidance in 2025 as possible. consequently it is still our ambition to get as close to the 5% guidance in 2025 as possible Actually, the only moving target in this context is the size and timing of the booking of integration costs related to the Santander Polska acquisition. actually the only moving target in this context is the size and timing of the booking of integration costs related to the santander polska acquisition Looking further out and limiting my comments to existing ST operations, we do believe that cost growth will decline materially from 2025 levels in 2026, which bodes well for positive operating leverage, given that we also have a strong top-line momentum. looking further out and limiting my comments to existing st operations we do believe that cost growth will decline materially from 2025 levels in 2026 which bodes well for positive operating leverage given that we also have a strong top-line momentum Talking about operating performance, we move to page 18 and can conclude that the top-line performance is the story of the third quarter. talking about operating performance we move to page 18 and can conclude that the top-line performance is the story of the third quarter We posted record quarterly revenues, which fully offset elevated costs, resulting in record operating profit. we posted record quarterly revenues which fully offset elevated costs resulting in record operating profit The cost-income ratio also improved to 46.7% for the quarter. the cost-income ratio also improved to 46.7% for the quarter Based on the strong year-to-date operating performance, we are upgrading the full-year cost-income ratio guidance for 2025 to about 48%. As I mentioned before, we have a constructive stance when it comes to the 2026 operating result outlook of our existing ST operations due to strong top-line momentum and moderating cost inflation in 2026. We hand this over to you, Alexandra, for more details on credit risk. Based on the strong year-to-date operating performance, we are upgrading the full-year cost-income ratio guidance for 2025 to about 48%. based on the strong year-to-date operating performance we are upgrading the full-year cost-income ratio guidance for 2025 to about 48% As I mentioned before, we have a constructive stance when it comes to the 2026 operating result outlook of our existing ST operations due to strong top-line momentum and moderating cost inflation in 2026. as i mentioned before we have a constructive stance when it comes to the 2026 operating result outlook of our existing st operations due to strong top-line momentum and moderating cost inflation in 2026 We hand this over to you, Alexandra, for more details on credit risk. we hand this over to you alexandra for more details on credit risk

Speaker 9: Thank you, Stefan, and good morning and welcome to this call also from my end. I am on page 19. In the third quarter of 2025, we booked risk costs of EUR 136 million, or 24 basis points. A year ago, risk costs were lower, but back then, we benefited from FLI and overlay releases in the amount of EUR 101 million as opposed to only EUR 19 million this quarter. Net-net, we actually saw an improvement year-on-year. Thank you, Stefan, and good morning and welcome to this call also from my end. thank you stefan and good morning and welcome to this call also from my end I am on page 19. i am on page 19 In the third quarter of 2025, we booked risk costs of EUR 136 million, or 24 basis points. in the third quarter of 2025 we booked risk costs of eur 136 million or 24 basis points A year ago, risk costs were lower, but back then, we benefited from FLI and overlay releases in the amount of EUR 101 million as opposed to only EUR 19 million this quarter. a year ago risk costs were lower but back then we benefited from fli and overlay releases in the amount of eur 101 million as opposed to only eur 19 million this quarter Net-net, we actually saw an improvement year-on-year. net-net we actually saw an improvement year-on-year As is visible on the left-hand chart, we continue to book risk costs in our Austrian retail and SME operations, but the asset quality situation in Austria has definitely stabilized, thanks to lower NPL inflows year-to-date. The third-quarter bookings in Romania and Slovakia were mostly attributable to the retail business. Like Stefan and Peter, I also would like to explicitly mention the Czech Republic, which continued to excel also in terms of risk performance. As far as FLI and industry overlay provisions are concerned, we now hold a stock of about EUR 460 million, slightly down compared to the second quarter, on the back of the already mentioned only minor FLI releases. Accordingly, we are again adjusting our forecast of such provision release in the remainder of 2025 to about EUR 70 million. As is visible on the left-hand chart, we continue to book risk costs in our Austrian retail and SME operations, but the asset quality situation in Austria has definitely stabilized, thanks to lower NPL inflows year-to-date. as is visible on the left-hand chart we continue to book risk costs in our austrian retail and sme operations but the asset quality situation in austria has definitely stabilized thanks to lower npl inflows year-to-date The third-quarter bookings in Romania and Slovakia were mostly attributable to the retail business. the third-quarter bookings in romania and slovakia were mostly attributable to the retail business Like Stefan and Peter, I also would like to explicitly mention the Czech Republic, which continued to excel also in terms of risk performance. like stefan and peter i also would like to explicitly mention the czech republic which continued to excel also in terms of risk performance As far as FLI and industry overlay provisions are concerned, we now hold a stock of about EUR 460 million, slightly down compared to the second quarter, on the back of the already mentioned only minor FLI releases. as far as fli and industry overlay provisions are concerned we now hold a stock of about eur 460 million slightly down compared to the second quarter on the back of the already mentioned only minor fli releases Accordingly, we are again adjusting our forecast of such provision release in the remainder of 2025 to about EUR 70 million. accordingly we are again adjusting our forecast of such provision release in the remainder of 2025 to about eur 70 million Let me also come back to a point that Peter mentioned in his comments on one-time effects related to the first-time consolidation of Santander Polska. According to IFRS 3 and IFRS 9, we are required to measure all acquired assets at fair value on the date of acquisition and immediately provide for performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on parent company level. These are purely technical IFRS bookings that will make our risk cost line look worse by up to EUR 300 million in 2026, but are P&L neutral over time. Importantly, this is not a reflection of any underlying portfolio deterioration of the acquired assets. Moving back to 2025, and given our strong year-to-date credit risk performance, which asset benefited much less from FLI and overlay releases than in previous years, we confirm our full-year risk cost outlook of about 20 basis points. Let me also come back to a point that Peter mentioned in his comments on one-time effects related to the first-time consolidation of Santander Polska. let me also come back to a point that peter mentioned in his comments on one-time effects related to the first-time consolidation of santander polska According to IFRS 3 and IFRS 9, we are required to measure all acquired assets at fair value on the date of acquisition and immediately provide for performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on parent company level. according to ifrs 3 and ifrs 9 we are required to measure all acquired assets at fair value on the date of acquisition and immediately provide for performing ecl of the acquired portfolio on parent company level These are purely technical IFRS bookings that will make our risk cost line look worse by up to EUR 300 million in 2026, but are P&L neutral over time. these are purely technical ifrs bookings that will make our risk cost line look worse by up to eur 300 million in 2026 but are p&l neutral over time Importantly, this is not a reflection of any underlying portfolio deterioration of the acquired assets. importantly this is not a reflection of any underlying portfolio deterioration of the acquired assets Moving back to 2025, and given our strong year-to-date credit risk performance, which asset benefited much less from FLI and overlay releases than in previous years, we confirm our full-year risk cost outlook of about 20 basis points. moving back to 2025 and given our strong year-to-date credit risk performance which asset benefited much less from fli and overlay releases than in previous years we confirm our full-year risk cost outlook of about 20 basis points Let's now turn to asset quality on page 20. With a consolidated NPL ratio of 2.5% and an NPL coverage ratio, excluding collateral as always, of 74%, asset quality metrics remain strong, and this across our footprint. Overall, the NPL ratio benefited from somewhat lower NPL inflows and significantly higher recoveries year-to-date. Central and Eastern Europe, and again, especially the Czech Republic, continued to do very well, with only Romania and Slovakia showing a small deterioration. In Romania, NPL inflows were registered in the third quarter in retail as well as in the corporate business, while in Slovakia, this was due to some inflows in the retail space. In Austria, the situation was broadly stable, with most of the NPL inflows being tied to the real estate segment, as we have already observed over the past couple of quarters. Let's now turn to asset quality on page 20. let's now turn to asset quality on page 20 With a consolidated NPL ratio of 2.5% and an NPL coverage ratio, excluding collateral as always, of 74%, asset quality metrics remain strong, and this across our footprint. with a consolidated npl ratio of 2.5% and an npl coverage ratio excluding collateral as always of 74% asset quality metrics remain strong and this across our footprint Overall, the NPL ratio benefited from somewhat lower NPL inflows and significantly higher recoveries year-to-date. overall the npl ratio benefited from somewhat lower npl inflows and significantly higher recoveries year-to-date Central and Eastern Europe, and again, especially the Czech Republic, continued to do very well, with only Romania and Slovakia showing a small deterioration. central and eastern europe and again especially the czech republic continued to do very well with only romania and slovakia showing a small deterioration In Romania, NPL inflows were registered in the third quarter in retail as well as in the corporate business, while in Slovakia, this was due to some inflows in the retail space. in romania npl inflows were registered in the third quarter in retail as well as in the corporate business while in slovakia this was due to some inflows in the retail space In Austria, the situation was broadly stable, with most of the NPL inflows being tied to the real estate segment, as we have already observed over the past couple of quarters. in austria the situation was broadly stable with most of the npl inflows being tied to the real estate segment as we have already observed over the past couple of quarters Nonetheless, let me stress this once again, the asset quality situation in this segment has definitely not deteriorated, but rather continues to consolidate at somewhat elevated levels. I still maintain my comments from the second quarter that we have seen the peak in defaults in Austria, but at the same time, you should not overestimate the speed of recovery given the still challenging economic environment. In terms of projections for year-end 2025, we expect the group NPL ratio to stay more or less at current levels. Similarly, coverage is expected to remain broadly unchanged, subject to the structure of new defaults and the magnitude of further FLI and overlay releases. With this, I already hand back to Stefan. Nonetheless, let me stress this once again, the asset quality situation in this segment has definitely not deteriorated, but rather continues to consolidate at somewhat elevated levels. nonetheless let me stress this once again the asset quality situation in this segment has definitely not deteriorated but rather continues to consolidate at somewhat elevated levels I still maintain my comments from the second quarter that we have seen the peak in defaults in Austria, but at the same time, you should not overestimate the speed of recovery given the still challenging economic environment. i still maintain my comments from the second quarter that we have seen the peak in defaults in austria but at the same time you should not overestimate the speed of recovery given the still challenging economic environment In terms of projections for year-end 2025, we expect the group NPL ratio to stay more or less at current levels. in terms of projections for year-end 2025 we expect the group npl ratio to stay more or less at current levels Similarly, coverage is expected to remain broadly unchanged, subject to the structure of new defaults and the magnitude of further FLI and overlay releases. similarly coverage is expected to remain broadly unchanged subject to the structure of new defaults and the magnitude of further fli and overlay releases With this, I already hand back to Stefan. with this i already hand back to stefan

Speaker 4: Thanks, Alexandra. Let's briefly look at how the other result performed this quarter on page 21. In short, other result once again benefited from a positive one-off. After posting a positive one-off of EUR 88 million in the second quarter, the third quarter saw a positive one-off in the form of a provision release related to a legal case in Romania in the amount of EUR 77 million, which also explains the quarter-on-quarter deterioration to which the increased banking tax in Romania from July also contributed. Year-on-year, the comparison looks more favorable, even though the tripling of the Austrian banking tax since the start of 2025 did not help in this context. In terms of guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025, we would definitely expect to come in significantly better than for the last quarter a year ago. Thanks, Alexandra. thanks alexandra Let's briefly look at how the other result performed this quarter on page 21. let's briefly look at how the other result performed this quarter on page 21 In short, other result once again benefited from a positive one-off. in short other result once again benefited from a positive one-off After posting a positive one-off of EUR 88 million in the second quarter, the third quarter saw a positive one-off in the form of a provision release related to a legal case in Romania in the amount of EUR 77 million, which also explains the quarter-on-quarter deterioration to which the increased banking tax in Romania from July also contributed. after posting a positive one-off of eur 88 million in the second quarter the third quarter saw a positive one-off in the form of a provision release related to a legal case in romania in the amount of eur 77 million which also explains the quarter-on-quarter deterioration to which the increased banking tax in romania from july also contributed Year-on-year, the comparison looks more favorable, even though the tripling of the Austrian banking tax since the start of 2025 did not help in this context. year-on-year the comparison looks more favorable even though the tripling of the austrian banking tax since the start of 2025 did not help in this context In terms of guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025, we would definitely expect to come in significantly better than for the last quarter a year ago. in terms of guidance for the fourth quarter of 2025 we would definitely expect to come in significantly better than for the last quarter a year ago On page 22, and summing up the P&L for third quarter of 2025, the record operating performance, combined with moderate, however, year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter slightly higher risk costs, resulted in a quarterly net profit of EUR 901 million, earnings per share of EUR 2.2, and a Return on Tangible Equity of 18%. As Peter mentioned already, the reason why earnings per share and Return on Tangible Equity both improved quarter-on-quarter despite reported net profit trailing the second quarter figure has exclusively to do with the timing of AT1 dividend payments. In the second quarter, we had some deductions due to this, while in the third quarter, there were no such payments. Overall, we are fully on track to deliver a Return on Tangible Equity of greater than 15% in 2025. With this, let's spend a few minutes on wholesale funding and capital. On page 22, and summing up the P&L for third quarter of 2025, the record operating performance, combined with moderate, however, year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter slightly higher risk costs, resulted in a quarterly net profit of EUR 901 million, earnings per share of EUR 2.2, and a Return on Tangible Equity of 18%. on page 22 and summing up the p&l for third quarter of 2025 the record operating performance combined with moderate however year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter slightly higher risk costs resulted in a quarterly net profit of eur 901 million earnings per share of eur 2.2 and a return on tangible equity of 18% As Peter mentioned already, the reason why earnings per share and Return on Tangible Equity both improved quarter-on-quarter despite reported net profit trailing the second quarter figure has exclusively to do with the timing of AT1 dividend payments. as peter mentioned already the reason why earnings per share and return on tangible equity both improved quarter-on-quarter despite reported net profit trailing the second quarter figure has exclusively to do with the timing of at1 dividend payments In the second quarter, we had some deductions due to this, while in the third quarter, there were no such payments. in the second quarter we had some deductions due to this while in the third quarter there were no such payments Overall, we are fully on track to deliver a Return on Tangible Equity of greater than 15% in 2025. overall we are fully on track to deliver a return on tangible equity of greater than 15% in 2025 With this, let's spend a few minutes on wholesale funding and capital. with this let's spend a few minutes on wholesale funding and capital Page 24 shows that our highly granular and well-diversified retail and SME deposit base, of course, remains the key source of long-term funding. Wholesale funding volumes decreased year-to-date as higher stock of debt securities was more than offset by decline in interbank deposits, mainly repos. The stock of debt securities was pushed up primarily by issuance of covered bonds and senior preferred bonds, characterizing a very successful issuance here for Erste Group, resulting in the updated maturity profile on page 25. My very short summary would be that we successfully completed our 2025 funding plan well ahead of time. Third-quarter issuance highlights included a EUR 750 million Tier 2 note on holding level, as well as senior non-preferred paper and covered bond in the amount of EUR 500 million each, issued by our Czech and Slovak subsidiaries, respectively. Finally, for my part, let's look at capital, starting on page 26. Page 24 shows that our highly granular and well-diversified retail and SME deposit base, of course, remains the key source of long-term funding. page 24 shows that our highly granular and well-diversified retail and sme deposit base of course remains the key source of long-term funding Wholesale funding volumes decreased year-to-date as higher stock of debt securities was more than offset by decline in interbank deposits, mainly repos. wholesale funding volumes decreased year-to-date as higher stock of debt securities was more than offset by decline in interbank deposits mainly repos The stock of debt securities was pushed up primarily by issuance of covered bonds and senior preferred bonds, characterizing a very successful issuance here for Erste Group, resulting in the updated maturity profile on page 25. the stock of debt securities was pushed up primarily by issuance of covered bonds and senior preferred bonds characterizing a very successful issuance here for erste group resulting in the updated maturity profile on page 25 My very short summary would be that we successfully completed our 2025 funding plan well ahead of time. my very short summary would be that we successfully completed our 2025 funding plan well ahead of time Third-quarter issuance highlights included a EUR 750 million Tier 2 note on holding level, as well as senior non-preferred paper and covered bond in the amount of EUR 500 million each, issued by our Czech and Slovak subsidiaries, respectively. third-quarter issuance highlights included a eur 750 million tier 2 note on holding level as well as senior non-preferred paper and covered bond in the amount of eur 500 million each issued by our czech and slovak subsidiaries respectively Finally, for my part, let's look at capital, starting on page 26. finally for my part let's look at capital starting on page 26 Our first half 2025 performance, when it comes to regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets, was exceptional, and the third quarter was no different. While this is not visible in reported CET1 capital, which is almost entirely attributable to the non-inclusion of third-quarter profit, it is all the more visible in risk-weighted assets on the right-hand chart on this slide. The increase in risk-weighted assets from strong business growth was more than offset by asset-quality-related portfolio effects, as well as the successful execution of optimization measures such as securitizations. The former cover such factors as rating upgrades and downgrades, migrations to default, and parameter updates. Later, thanks to small securitization transactions in Slovakia and Hungary, also reduced risk-weighted assets by almost EUR 1 billion. Consequently, risk-weighted assets overall declined by another EUR 1.5 billion in the third quarter. Our first half 2025 performance, when it comes to regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets, was exceptional, and the third quarter was no different. our first half 2025 performance when it comes to regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets was exceptional and the third quarter was no different While this is not visible in reported CET1 capital, which is almost entirely attributable to the non-inclusion of third-quarter profit, it is all the more visible in risk-weighted assets on the right-hand chart on this slide. while this is not visible in reported cet1 capital which is almost entirely attributable to the non-inclusion of third-quarter profit it is all the more visible in risk-weighted assets on the right-hand chart on this slide The increase in risk-weighted assets from strong business growth was more than offset by asset-quality-related portfolio effects, as well as the successful execution of optimization measures such as securitizations. the increase in risk-weighted assets from strong business growth was more than offset by asset-quality-related portfolio effects as well as the successful execution of optimization measures such as securitizations The former cover such factors as rating upgrades and downgrades, migrations to default, and parameter updates. the former cover such factors as rating upgrades and downgrades migrations to default and parameter updates Later, thanks to small securitization transactions in Slovakia and Hungary, also reduced risk-weighted assets by almost EUR 1 billion. later thanks to small securitization transactions in slovakia and hungary also reduced risk-weighted assets by almost eur 1 billion Consequently, risk-weighted assets overall declined by another EUR 1.5 billion in the third quarter. consequently risk-weighted assets overall declined by another eur 1.5 billion in the third quarter Let's now turn to the important pro forma view of our CET1 ratio on page 27. If we focus on pro forma, we can see that we are pretty much where we targeted to be at year-end already now after the third quarter. At 18.2%, we could have closed the policy transaction already in September without falling below our minimum threshold of 13.5% announced at the time of acquisition or signing of the SBA in May. The fourth-quarter profit and most of the balance sheet optimization are still to come. So far, securitizations contributed only 12 basis points and asset sales another 11 basis points, roundabout. All the rest came from organic capital generation, obviously supported by the temporarily reduced shareholder distributions. Let's now turn to the important pro forma view of our CET1 ratio on page 27. let's now turn to the important pro forma view of our cet1 ratio on page 27 If we focus on pro forma, we can see that we are pretty much where we targeted to be at year-end already now after the third quarter. if we focus on pro forma we can see that we are pretty much where we targeted to be at year-end already now after the third quarter At 18.2%, we could have closed the policy transaction already in September without falling below our minimum threshold of 13.5% announced at the time of acquisition or signing of the SBA in May. at 18.2% we could have closed the policy transaction already in september without falling below our minimum threshold of 13.5% announced at the time of acquisition or signing of the sba in may The fourth-quarter profit and most of the balance sheet optimization are still to come. the fourth-quarter profit and most of the balance sheet optimization are still to come So far, securitizations contributed only 12 basis points and asset sales another 11 basis points, roundabout. so far securitizations contributed only 12 basis points and asset sales another 11 basis points roundabout All the rest came from organic capital generation, obviously supported by the temporarily reduced shareholder distributions. all the rest came from organic capital generation obviously supported by the temporarily reduced shareholder distributions Consequently, we now 2025 CET1 ratio of higher than 18.5% should the Santander Bank Polska acquisition close in early 2026, or alternatively, of higher than 14% should the transaction be completed inside this year. With the assumption of our drawdown unchanged at about 460 basis points as a result of first-time consolidation of Santander Bank Polska, we should be well on our way post-consolidation CET1 ratio target of 14.25% during the course of 2026, and at the same time, return to our dividend payout policy of 40%-50%. With this, over to you, Peter, for the outlook. Consequently, we now 2025 CET1 ratio of higher than 18.5% should the Santander Bank Polska acquisition close in early 2026, or alternatively, of higher than 14% should the transaction be completed inside this year. consequently we now 2025 cet1 ratio of higher than 18.5% should the santander bank polska acquisition close in early 2026 or alternatively of higher than 14% should the transaction be completed inside this year With the assumption of our drawdown unchanged at about 460 basis points as a result of first-time consolidation of Santander Bank Polska, we should be well on our way post-consolidation CET1 ratio target of 14.25% during the course of 2026, and at the same time, return to our dividend payout policy of 40% - 50%. with the assumption of our drawdown unchanged at about 460 basis points as a result of first-time consolidation of santander bank polska we should be well on our way post-consolidation cet1 ratio target of 14.25% during the course of 2026 and at the same time return to our dividend payout policy of 40% - 50% With this, over to you, Peter, for the outlook. with this over to you peter for the outlook

Speaker 14: Thank you, Stefan. Thank you, Alexandra. I'm concluding the presentation with our detailed financial outlook for 2025 on page 29. In addition, I will sketch out how I see 2026 shaping up, but let's start with 2025. Thank you, Stefan. thank you stefan Thank you, Alexandra. thank you alexandra I'm concluding the presentation with our detailed financial outlook for 2025 on page 29. i'm concluding the presentation with our detailed financial outlook for 2025 on page 29 In addition, I will sketch out how I see 2026 shaping up, but let's start with 2025. in addition i will sketch out how i see 2026 shaping up but let's start with 2025 As is evident from the numbers presented today, 2025 is already a strong year, and we have no reason to believe that the fourth quarter will be any different. We have healthy customer volume growth. We have a reasonably favorable interest rate environment, and as market leader, we have pricing power, all of which supported upgrading our net interest income outlook for 2025. We now expect growth of more than 2%. Fees continue to do very well for us, so the guidance of greater than 5% is probably on the conservative end. With this, our top line should grow nicely in 2025. On the cost side, we stick to our guidance of roughly 5% increase in 2025, even though we do realize that the year-end to-date performance and the possible front-loading of some integration costs related to Poland might push this figure slightly higher. As is evident from the numbers presented today, 2025 is already a strong year, and we have no reason to believe that the fourth quarter will be any different. as is evident from the numbers presented today 2025 is already a strong year and we have no reason to believe that the fourth quarter will be any different We have healthy customer volume growth. we have healthy customer volume growth We have a reasonably favorable interest rate environment, and as market leader, we have pricing power, all of which supported upgrading our net interest income outlook for 2025. we have a reasonably favorable interest rate environment and as market leader we have pricing power all of which supported upgrading our net interest income outlook for 2025 We now expect growth of more than 2%. we now expect growth of more than 2% Fees continue to do very well for us, so the guidance of greater than 5% is probably on the conservative end. fees continue to do very well for us so the guidance of greater than 5% is probably on the conservative end With this, our top line should grow nicely in 2025. with this our top line should grow nicely in 2025 On the cost side, we stick to our guidance of roughly 5% increase in 2025, even though we do realize that the year-end to-date performance and the possible front-loading of some integration costs related to Poland might push this figure slightly higher. on the cost side we stick to our guidance of roughly 5% increase in 2025 even though we do realize that the year-end to-date performance and the possible front-loading of some integration costs related to poland might push this figure slightly higher Even factoring some cost volatility in, we believe that we have a good shot of printing a 48 handle when it comes to the 2025 cost-income ratio supported by a strong top line. Risk costs should be in line with our existing guidance of about 20 basis points, and Return on Tangible Equity should be comfortably above 15%, also fully in line with guidance. Let's now to the more interesting part of this 2026. First of all, we enter 2026 from the position of strengths. Erste, as we know it today, enjoys strong growth dynamics. Add to that that 2026 economic outlook for our region is somewhat better than it was for 2025, so volume growth should continue to be healthy. Even factoring some cost volatility in, we believe that we have a good shot of printing a 48 handle when it comes to the 2025 cost-income ratio supported by a strong top line. even factoring some cost volatility in we believe that we have a good shot of printing a 48 handle when it comes to the 2025 cost-income ratio supported by a strong top line Risk costs should be in line with our existing guidance of about 20 basis points, and Return on Tangible Equity should be comfortably above 15%, also fully in line with guidance. risk costs should be in line with our existing guidance of about 20 basis points and return on tangible equity should be comfortably above 15% also fully in line with guidance Let's now to the more interesting part of this 2026. let's now to the more interesting part of this 2026 First of all, we enter 2026 from the position of strengths. first of all we enter 2026 from the position of strengths Erste, as we know it today, enjoys strong growth dynamics. erste as we know it today enjoys strong growth dynamics Add to that that 2026 economic outlook for our region is somewhat better than it was for 2025, so volume growth should continue to be healthy. add to that that 2026 economic outlook for our region is somewhat better than it was for 2025 so volume growth should continue to be healthy If we don't see big shifts in the interest rate environment, which is the current expectation, then our top line in 2026 should grow faster than it did in 2025. At the same time, cost inflation should definitely come down next year, so positive operating leverage is not unrealistic for 2026. With a continued solid credit risk backdrop, we would expect to print a Return on Tangible Equity north of 15%. That's the existing Erste business. We are talking about a business that, even prior to the acquisition of Santander Polska, is in excellent shape in terms of growth and profitability. If we now add Poland to the 2026 equation and leave one off the side, our profit and capital generation capacity will only improve from here. If we don't see big shifts in the interest rate environment, which is the current expectation, then our top line in 2026 should grow faster than it did in 2025. if we don't see big shifts in the interest rate environment which is the current expectation then our top line in 2026 should grow faster than it did in 2025 At the same time, cost inflation should definitely come down next year, so positive operating leverage is not unrealistic for 2026. at the same time cost inflation should definitely come down next year so positive operating leverage is not unrealistic for 2026 With a continued solid credit risk backdrop, we would expect to print a Return on Tangible Equity north of 15%. with a continued solid credit risk backdrop we would expect to print a return on tangible equity north of 15% That's the existing Erste business. that's the existing erste business We are talking about a business that, even prior to the acquisition of Santander Polska, is in excellent shape in terms of growth and profitability. we are talking about a business that even prior to the acquisition of santander polska is in excellent shape in terms of growth and profitability If we now add Poland to the 2026 equation and leave one off the side, our profit and capital generation capacity will only improve from here. if we now add poland to the 2026 equation and leave one off the side our profit and capital generation capacity will only improve from here In terms of level 2026 guidance for the combined entity, we therefore feel comfortable with confirming our targets made at the time of transaction announcement, and that's a Return on Tangible Equity of about 19% and EPS uplift of higher than 20% based on current market consensus expectations for 2025. To be absolutely clear about it, the guidance relates to reported figures rather than figures adjusted for one-time items. This, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our presentation remarks. Thank you for your attention. We are now ready to take your questions. In terms of level 2026 guidance for the combined entity, we therefore feel comfortable with confirming our targets made at the time of transaction announcement, and that's a Return on Tangible Equity of about 19% and EPS uplift of higher than 20% based on current market consensus expectations for 2025. in terms of level 2026 guidance for the combined entity we therefore feel comfortable with confirming our targets made at the time of transaction announcement and that's a return on tangible equity of about 19% and eps uplift of higher than 20% based on current market consensus expectations for 2025 To be absolutely clear about it, the guidance relates to reported figures rather than figures adjusted for one-time items. to be absolutely clear about it the guidance relates to reported figures rather than figures adjusted for one-time items This, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our presentation remarks. this ladies and gentlemen concludes our presentation remarks Thank you for your attention. thank you for your attention We are now ready to take your questions. we are now ready to take your questions

Speaker 10: We will now begin question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered a queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Questioners on the phone are requested to disable the loudspeaker mode while asking a question. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. Our first question comes from Gulnara Saitkulova from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. We will now begin question and answer session. we will now begin question and answer session Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the telephone. anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the telephone You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered a queue. you will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered a queue If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. if you wish to remove yourself from the question queue you may press star and two Questioners on the phone are requested to disable the loudspeaker mode while asking a question. questioners on the phone are requested to disable the loudspeaker mode while asking a question Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time Our first question comes from Gulnara Saitkulova from Morgan Stanley. our first question comes from gulnara saitkulova from morgan stanley Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 2: Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. With the question on costs, you noted that the cost growth is expected to decline materially in 2026. Could you provide additional color on the cost outlook for the coming year and the key factors influencing the cost dynamics across your various markets? Where do you see and expect the most significant cost savings to come from, maybe potential areas of pressure, and how are you planning to manage these developments? Thank you. Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. hi good morning and thank you for taking my questions With the question on costs, you noted that the cost growth is expected to decline materially in 2026. with the question on costs you noted that the cost growth is expected to decline materially in 2026 Could you provide additional color on the cost outlook for the coming year and the key factors influencing the cost dynamics across your various markets? could you provide additional color on the cost outlook for the coming year and the key factors influencing the cost dynamics across your various markets Where do you see and expect the most significant cost savings to come from, maybe potential areas of pressure, and how are you planning to manage these developments? where do you see and expect the most significant cost savings to come from maybe potential areas of pressure and how are you planning to manage these developments Thank you. thank you

Speaker 4: All right, that's it. Okay, very good. Thank you very much for the question. Now, look, let's start with the environment. I think what we have seen was, and that's of course the flip side of the coin of a stable rate environment, we have seen that the inflation, while coming down from the super elevated levels over the cycle, has still been at quite elevated levels. That's true for Austria. If you compare Austria to most of the other, if not all of the other Euroland countries, to name Hungary or Romania, this, combined with the very tight labor markets, definitely has been keeping the pressure on wage inflation up. On the flip side of that is, of course, a very, very strong retail business, strong fee business, very good asset quality. That all, of course, is connected to each other. That much to the overall backdrop. All right, that's it. all right that's it Okay, very good. okay very good Thank you very much for the question. thank you very much for the question Now, look, let's start with the environment. now look let's start with the environment I think what we have seen was, and that's of course the flip side of the coin of a stable rate environment, we have seen that the inflation, while coming down from the super elevated levels over the cycle, has still been at quite elevated levels. i think what we have seen was and that's of course the flip side of the coin of a stable rate environment we have seen that the inflation while coming down from the super elevated levels over the cycle has still been at quite elevated levels That's true for Austria. that's true for austria If you compare Austria to most of the other, if not all of the other Euroland countries, to name Hungary or Romania, this, combined with the very tight labor markets, definitely has been keeping the pressure on wage inflation up. if you compare austria to most of the other if not all of the other euroland countries to name hungary or romania this combined with the very tight labor markets definitely has been keeping the pressure on wage inflation up On the flip side of that is, of course, a very, very strong retail business, strong fee business, very good asset quality. on the flip side of that is of course a very very strong retail business strong fee business very good asset quality That all, of course, is connected to each other. that all of course is connected to each other That much to the overall backdrop. that much to the overall backdrop On the internal, so to say, view, we have always been pointing out that the investments that we started in the second half of 2024 and have been ramping up throughout 2025 in order to improve our process efficiency are clearly seen in our cost line. We always have been flagging that as around 1.5 percentage points. That is, of course, now also part of the slightly elevated cost numbers in 2025. What of this will come down in 2026? First of all, we see significantly reducing wage inflation pressure all across countries. Actually, I don't need to be specific anywhere. Of course, the absolute levels are different, but all of them have been coming down by, let's say, 1%-3% from what we saw in 2024 and 2025. That's point number one. On the internal, so to say, view, we have always been pointing out that the investments that we started in the second half of 2024 and have been ramping up throughout 2025 in order to improve our process efficiency are clearly seen in our cost line. on the internal so to say view we have always been pointing out that the investments that we started in the second half of 2024 and have been ramping up throughout 2025 in order to improve our process efficiency are clearly seen in our cost line We always have been flagging that as around 1.5 percentage points. we always have been flagging that as around 1.5 percentage points That is, of course, now also part of the slightly elevated cost numbers in 2025. that is of course now also part of the slightly elevated cost numbers in 2025 What of this will come down in 2026? what of this will come down in 2026 First of all, we see significantly reducing wage inflation pressure all across countries. first of all we see significantly reducing wage inflation pressure all across countries Actually, I don't need to be specific anywhere. actually i don't need to be specific anywhere Of course, the absolute levels are different, but all of them have been coming down by, let's say, 1% - 3% from what we saw in 2024 and 2025. of course the absolute levels are different but all of them have been coming down by let's say 1% - 3% from what we saw in 2024 and 2025 That's point number one. that's point number one Point number two, the index adjustments of, let's say, the broad IT spending and so on are hopefully mostly finalized, and that definitely is an easing effect. Thirdly, and that's, of course, most important for you to see how we work on the matters, we will already, and we see already, significant achievements in the process efficiency and the automation. That means that especially in the operations area and the typical mid-to-back office areas, you will see reduction of staff here and there, not a huge reduction, but a significant one in order to bring down the cost, inflation substantially. I.e., as Peter, Alexandra, and myself described, we see a very good chance to come up with a positive operating choice in 2026 altogether. Thank you. Point number two, the index adjustments of, let's say, the broad IT spending and so on are hopefully mostly finalized, and that definitely is an easing effect. point number two the index adjustments of let's say the broad it spending and so on are hopefully mostly finalized and that definitely is an easing effect Thirdly, and that's, of course, most important for you to see how we work on the matters, we will already, and we see already, significant achievements in the process efficiency and the automation. thirdly and that's of course most important for you to see how we work on the matters we will already and we see already significant achievements in the process efficiency and the automation That means that especially in the operations area and the typical mid-to-back office areas, you will see reduction of staff here and there, not a huge reduction, but a significant one in order to bring down the cost, i nflation substantially. that means that especially in the operations area and the typical mid-to-back office areas you will see reduction of staff here and there not a huge reduction but a significant one in order to bring down the cost, i nflation substantially I.e., as Peter, Alexandra, and myself described, we see a very good chance to come up with a positive operating choice in 2026 altogether. i.e as peter alexandra and myself described we see a very good chance to come up with a positive operating choice in 2026 altogether Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Amit Ranjan from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Amit Ranjan from JP Morgan. the next question comes from amit ranjan from jp morgan Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 15: Yes, hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. The first one is on capital. Can you please talk about how much of the 40 basis points optimization measures are now in the numbers? I think, Stefan, you mentioned around 12 basis points. If you could confirm that, please. What's the outlook for these benefits in the fourth quarter, please? The second one is on capital return outlook from 2026 onwards, the 40%-50% dividend payout range. Could there be upside to this range given the pace of capital build so far? Would it be dividends, more share? Could there be share buybacks part of the equation as well, please? The payout, would it be based on stated net income, or would it exclude the one-off from its list? Thank you. Yes, hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. yes hi good morning and thank you for taking my questions The first one is on capital. the first one is on capital Can you please talk about how much of the 40 basis points optimization measures are now in the numbers? can you please talk about how much of the 40 basis points optimization measures are now in the numbers I think, Stefan, you mentioned around 12 basis points. i think stefan you mentioned around 12 basis points If you could confirm that, please. if you could confirm that please What's the outlook for these benefits in the fourth quarter, please? what's the outlook for these benefits in the fourth quarter please The second one is on capital return outlook from 2026 onwards, the 40% - 50% dividend payout range. the second one is on capital return outlook from 2026 onwards the 40% - 50% dividend payout range Could there be upside to this range given the pace of capital build so far? could there be upside to this range given the pace of capital build so far Would it be dividends, more share? would it be dividends more share Could there be share buybacks part of the equation as well, please? could there be share buybacks part of the equation as well please The payout, would it be based on stated net income, or would it exclude the one-off from its list? T hank you. the payout would it be based on stated net income or would it exclude the one-off from its list? t hank you

Speaker 9: Stefan, you just can take it.. Stefan, you just can take it. . stefan, you just can take it

Speaker 4: All right, one after the other. First question, how much is in? Less than half of the 40 basis points. However, given the very successful progress all across the measures we are taking, let's not forget the market was quite supportive, very tight spreads, so we could do a little bit more of asset sales. Securitizations are on a very good track, as you saw also in one or the other, let me say, statement reported around it. All right, one after the other. all right one after the other First question, how much is in? first question how much is in Less than half of the 40 basis points. less than half of the 40 basis points However, given the very successful progress all across the measures we are taking, let's not forget the market was quite supportive, very tight spreads, so we could do a little bit more of asset sales. however given the very successful progress all across the measures we are taking let's not forget the market was quite supportive very tight spreads so we could do a little bit more of asset sales Securitizations are on a very good track, as you saw also in one or the other, let me say, statement reported around it. securitizations are on a very good track as you saw also in one or the other let me say statement reported around it We believe it's going to be above 40 basis points at the end of the year, and some of the measures might still happen in Q1. In other words, so far, only roundabout half of the 30 basis points of particular measures are in, but towards the end of the year, it will be more than 40 basis points. That's why we are overall, in general, on a better track with the one ratio. That's point number one. We believe it's going to be above 40 basis points at the end of the year, and some of the measures might still happen in Q1. we believe it's going to be above 40 basis points at the end of the year and some of the measures might still happen in q1 In other words, so far, only roundabout half of the 30 basis points of particular measures are in, but towards the end of the year, it will be more than 40 basis points. in other words so far only roundabout half of the 30 basis points of particular measures are in but towards the end of the year it will be more than 40 basis points That's why we are overall, in general, on a better track with the one ratio. that's why we are overall in general on a better track with the one ratio That's point number one. that's point number one I think you were asking about dividend EUR 0.25. So EUR 0.25, very simply put, we will not change anything here. It's going to be 10% of the net profit. Obviously, with the net profit, there is certain fluctuation. If you put the numbers together, a best guess is somewhere between EUR 0.50 and EUR 0.75 to the euro, but that's just, so to say, simply calculated. Nothing to be changed there because our clear commitment and goal is that in 2026. Shareholder. Returns on dividend payouts should be very much in the focus. I said it in the presentation that 40%-50% net profit after AT1 deduction is our dividend policy. I think if we get back to that, given good profitability expectations for 2026, a very interesting and attractive dividend for 2026 should be expected. I think you were asking about dividend EUR 0.25. i think you were asking about dividend eur 0.25 So EUR 0.25, very simply put, we will not change anything here. so eur 0.25 very simply put we will not change anything here It's going to be 10% of the net profit. it's going to be 10% of the net profit Obviously, with the net profit, there is certain fluctuation. obviously with the net profit there is certain fluctuation If you put the numbers together, a best guess is somewhere between EUR 0.50 and EUR 0.75 to the euro, but that's just, so to say, simply calculated. if you put the numbers together a best guess is somewhere between eur 0.50 and eur 0.75 to the euro but that's just so to say simply calculated Nothing to be changed there because our clear commitment and goal is that in 2026. nothing to be changed there because our clear commitment and goal is that in 2026 Shareholder. shareholder Returns on dividend payouts should be very much in the focus. returns on dividend payouts should be very much in the focus I said it in the presentation that 40%- 50% net profit after AT1 deduction is our dividend policy. i said it in the presentation that 40%- 50% net profit after at1 deduction is our dividend policy I think if we get back to that, given good profitability expectations for 2026, a very interesting and attractive dividend for 2026 should be expected. i think if we get back to that given good profitability expectations for 2026 a very interesting and attractive dividend for 2026 should be expected

Speaker 15: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Máté Nemes from UBS. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Máté Nemes from UBS. the next question comes from máté nemes from ubs Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I have three of them. The first one would be on the Czech Republic. You're showing really strong 5% sequential NII growth. It seems like you are outperforming the sector both in retail lending and in corporate lending. Could you talk a little bit about the drivers of that? What's behind this, and how sustainable do you see this double-digit retail loan growth in the country? How long this could continue? The second question would be on the NII guidance. North of 2% for this year. If I look at the quarterly developments and only assume a flattish sequential development in Q4, you already are at 2.8% up year on year. Again, you're showing really good growth in a number of markets. NII or net interest margin showing a trough, perhaps in Austria and clear expansion in a number of other markets. Yes, good morning. yes good morning Thanks for taking my questions. thanks for taking my questions I have three of them. i have three of them The first one would be on the Czech Republic. the first one would be on the czech republic You're showing really strong 5% sequential NII growth. you're showing really strong 5% sequential nii growth It seems like you are outperforming the sector both in retail lending and in corporate lending. it seems like you are outperforming the sector both in retail lending and in corporate lending Could you talk a little bit about the drivers of that? could you talk a little bit about the drivers of that What's behind this, and how sustainable do you see this double-digit retail loan growth in the country? what's behind this and how sustainable do you see this double-digit retail loan growth in the country How long this could continue? how long this could continue The second question would be on the NII guidance. the second question would be on the nii guidance North of 2% for this year. north of 2% for this year If I look at the quarterly developments and only assume a flattish sequential development in Q4, you already are at 2.8% up year on year. if i look at the quarterly developments and only assume a flattish sequential development in q4 you already are at 2.8% up year on year Again, you're showing really good growth in a number of markets. again you're showing really good growth in a number of markets NII or net interest margin showing a trough, perhaps in Austria and clear expansion in a number of other markets. nii or net interest margin showing a trough perhaps in austria and clear expansion in a number of other markets What prevents you actually to become more positive? What are the potential one-offs or other risks to that guidance? The last question would be on Q4 costs. In the first nine months, you are 6.8% up year on year. Can you comment on what exactly in Q4 will help you to get to a roundabout 5% or 5%-ish level on a full-year basis? Any specific one-offs that you booked in the second half of 2024 or any potential reliefs you're getting specifically this quarter? Thank you. What prevents you actually to become more positive? what prevents you actually to become more positive What are the potential one-offs or other risks to that guidance? what are the potential one-offs or other risks to that guidance The last question would be on Q4 costs. the last question would be on q4 costs In the first nine months, you are 6.8% up year on year. in the first nine months you are 6.8% up year on year Can you comment on what exactly in Q4 will help you to get to a roundabout 5% or 5%-ish level on a full-year basis? can you comment on what exactly in q4 will help you to get to a roundabout 5% or 5%-ish level on a full-year basis Any specific one-offs that you booked in the second half of 2024 or any potential reliefs you're getting specifically this quarter? any specific one-offs that you booked in the second half of 2024 or any potential reliefs you're getting specifically this quarter Thank you. thank you

Speaker 14: Let me start to answer your first question about Czech Republic and our mortgage lending, consumer lending, and corporate lending. Point number one, this trend is going on since more than 18 months. There was a kind of hangover from COVID times in terms of demand. Let me start to answer your first question about Czech Republic and our mortgage lending, consumer lending, and corporate lending. let me start to answer your first question about czech republic and our mortgage lending consumer lending and corporate lending Point number one, this trend is going on since more than 18 months. point number one this trend is going on since more than 18 months There was a kind of hangover from COVID times in terms of demand. there was a kind of hangover from covid times in terms of demand Now it seems to us that this demand looks quite sustainable, and we are just taking advantage of being market leaders there. We are very well positioned in mortgage lending. It's also true for consumer lending, but demand in mortgage lending is bigger than in consumer lending. On the other hand, I think it's fair to say that we have a very balanced loan growth in the Czech Republic. It's not only about retail, it's also about corporate banking. We are doing very well in SME lending and corporate banking in the Czech Republic. We are quite happy with what we have achieved so far, and we are deeply convinced that the demand in corporate and retail lending is a sustainable one. Now it seems to us that this demand looks quite sustainable, and we are just taking advantage of being market leaders there. now it seems to us that this demand looks quite sustainable and we are just taking advantage of being market leaders there We are very well positioned in mortgage lending. we are very well positioned in mortgage lending It's also true for consumer lending, but demand in mortgage lending is bigger than in consumer lending. it's also true for consumer lending but demand in mortgage lending is bigger than in consumer lending On the other hand, I think it's fair to say that we have a very balanced loan growth in the Czech Republic. on the other hand i think it's fair to say that we have a very balanced loan growth in the czech republic It's not only about retail, it's also about corporate banking. it's not only about retail it's also about corporate banking We are doing very well in SME lending and corporate banking in the Czech Republic. we are doing very well in sme lending and corporate banking in the czech republic We are quite happy with what we have achieved so far, and we are deeply convinced that the demand in corporate and retail lending is a sustainable one. we are quite happy with what we have achieved so far and we are deeply convinced that the demand in corporate and retail lending is a sustainable one

Speaker 4: On NII guidance, look, I can keep it very short. We don't have any whatsoever one-offs or so in mind. On NII guidance, look, I can keep it very short. on nii guidance look i can keep it very short We don't have any whatsoever one-offs or so in mind. we don't have any whatsoever one-offs or so in mind Greater than 2% can also be greater than 3%, right? We simply wanted to leave a certain room of, so to say, caution in. That's all I can say. We are super confident to beat the two. We are reasonably confident to beat the three, but that's pretty much it. Nothing more to say here. Q4 cost, very interesting point. Please, if you look at the quarterly cost chart in the presentation, you will very clearly see that the 2024 Q4 was elevated even more than usually the Q4 bookings are elevated. There were various reasons for that. Some of these effects will repeat. I have to be very honest with you. For example, we have a component for our employees and managers in the bonus payments, which is tied to the share performance, and that obviously has to be provisioned in the cost. That's one element which repeats. Greater than 2% can also be greater than 3%, right? greater than 2% can also be greater than 3% right We simply wanted to leave a certain room of, so to say, caution in. we simply wanted to leave a certain room of so to say caution in That's all I can say. that's all i can say We are super confident to beat the two. we are super confident to beat the two We are reasonably confident to beat the three, but that's pretty much it. we are reasonably confident to beat the three but that's pretty much it Nothing more to say here. nothing more to say here Q4 cost, very interesting point. q4 cost very interesting point Please, if you look at the quarterly cost chart in the presentation, you will very clearly see that the 2024 Q4 was elevated even more than usually the Q4 bookings are elevated. please if you look at the quarterly cost chart in the presentation you will very clearly see that the 2024 q4 was elevated even more than usually the q4 bookings are elevated There were various reasons for that. there were various reasons for that Some of these effects will repeat. some of these effects will repeat I have to be very honest with you. i have to be very honest with you For example, we have a component for our employees and managers in the bonus payments, which is tied to the share performance, and that obviously has to be provisioned in the cost. for example we have a component for our employees and managers in the bonus payments which is tied to the share performance and that obviously has to be provisioned in the cost That's one element which repeats. that's one element which repeats I was already mentioning in my presentation that there is a small, but not completely immaterial part of the Polish integration cost that we will book. We will see some effects in Q4, but certainly not such a jump up like in 2024. That's why the year-on-year quarter four, quarter four comparison will come down quite substantially, and that helps us to come much closer to the 5% than we are in so far in the first three quarters. I think that's the explanation for Q4, but allow me, please, also to make a statement for 2026, as I already answered in the former question. That's really critical that we bring down the cost inflation in 2026. I was already mentioning in my presentation that there is a small, but not completely immaterial part of the Polish integration cost that we will book. i was already mentioning in my presentation that there is a small but not completely immaterial part of the polish integration cost that we will book We will see some effects in Q4, but certainly not such a jump up like in 2024. we will see some effects in q4 but certainly not such a jump up like in 2024 That's why the year-on-year quarter four, quarter four comparison will come down quite substantially, and that helps us to come much closer to the 5% than we are in so far in the first three quarters. that's why the year-on-year quarter four quarter four comparison will come down quite substantially and that helps us to come much closer to the 5% than we are in so far in the first three quarters I think that's the explanation for Q4, but allow me, please, also to make a statement for 2026, as I already answered in the former question. i think that's the explanation for q4 but allow me please also to make a statement for 2026 as i already answered in the former question That's really critical that we bring down the cost inflation in 2026. that's really critical that we bring down the cost inflation in 2026 Even if we have fantastic top line, it's important for us to come to, let me say, at or even below inflation levels in order to support the overall operating performance, and that we definitely have in the cards for 2026. Thank you. Even if we have fantastic top line, it's important for us to come to, let me say, at or even below inflation levels in order to support the overall operating performance, and that we definitely have in the cards for 2026. even if we have fantastic top line it's important for us to come to let me say at or even below inflation levels in order to support the overall operating performance and that we definitely have in the cards for 2026 Thank you. thank you

Speaker 8: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Benoît Pétrarque from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Benoît Pétrarque from Kepler Cheuvreux. the next question comes from benoît pétrarque from kepler cheuvreux Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 11: Yes, good morning. The first question on my side is on the earnings power for Poland. Just wondering what you see operationally in Poland and also looking at several factors like rate outlook and bank tax. If you could refresh us on your guidance for Poland for 2026. The second question is, again, on NII. Yeah, what can stop NII to further increase in the coming quarters, basically? I mean, you have name stabilization, very strong loan growth across the board, positive mix effect. Yes, good morning. yes good morning The first question on my side is on the earnings power for Poland. the first question on my side is on the earnings power for poland Just wondering what you see operationally in Poland and also looking at several factors like rate outlook and bank tax. just wondering what you see operationally in poland and also looking at several factors like rate outlook and bank tax If you could refresh us on your guidance for Poland for 2026. if you could refresh us on your guidance for poland for 2026 The second question is, again, on NII. the second question is again on nii Yeah, what can stop NII to further increase in the coming quarters, basically? yeah what can stop nii to further increase in the coming quarters basically I mean, you have name stabilization, very strong loan growth across the board, positive mix effect. i mean you have name stabilization very strong loan growth across the board positive mix effect I think in your slide, you mentioned potentially flattening of the curve or ECB rate cuts, but it sounds like NII momentum will remain strong in the coming quarters. I just wanted to confirm again that with name stabilization, it's going to be a function of loan growth as far as NII is concerned. Last one, just on the loan-to-deposit ratio, which is deteriorating a bit for several quarters. Do you plan any specific steering actions to rebalance deposit growth versus loan growth? Loan growth will probably stay strong next year. Any planned actions there? Thank you very much. I think in your slide, you mentioned potentially flattening of the curve or ECB rate cuts, but it sounds like NII momentum will remain strong in the coming quarters. i think in your slide you mentioned potentially flattening of the curve or ecb rate cuts but it sounds like nii momentum will remain strong in the coming quarters I just wanted to confirm again that with name stabilization, it's going to be a function of loan growth as far as NII is concerned. i just wanted to confirm again that with name stabilization it's going to be a function of loan growth as far as nii is concerned Last one, just on the loan-to-deposit ratio, which is deteriorating a bit for several quarters. last one just on the loan-to-deposit ratio which is deteriorating a bit for several quarters Do you plan any specific steering actions to rebalance deposit growth versus loan growth? do you plan any specific steering actions to rebalance deposit growth versus loan growth Loan growth will probably stay strong next year. loan growth will probably stay strong next year Any planned actions there? any planned actions there Thank you very much. thank you very much

Speaker 14: If you may start to answer questions. The first part about Poland, I think yesterday or the day before yesterday, hopefully future colleagues in Poland announced their third-quarter results. You can see they are still going very, very strong. If you may start to answer questions. if you may start to answer questions The first part about Poland, I think yesterday or the day before yesterday, hopefully future colleagues in Poland announced their third-quarter results. the first part about poland i think yesterday or the day before yesterday hopefully future colleagues in poland announced their third-quarter results You can see they are still going very, very strong. you can see they are still going very very strong The forecast for next year when it comes to economic development is the highest in the whole region and will be definitely above 3%. When it comes to NII in general, before I hand over to Stefan, this is exactly what we tried to explain, that when we assume that interest rates will more or less stay at the same level as they are today, where this is also our forecast, there should be much more correlation between volume growth and NII growth compared to this year. We are quite happy that we succeeded to increase NII this year, and we should not forget that this year we have seen a decrease in interest rate environment. It is just given the demand in our region. This is the only region in Europe which is still growing. The forecast for next year when it comes to economic development is the highest in the whole region and will be definitely above 3%. the forecast for next year when it comes to economic development is the highest in the whole region and will be definitely above 3% When it comes to NII in general, before I hand over to Stefan, this is exactly what we tried to explain, that when we assume that interest rates will more or less stay at the same level as they are today, where this is also our forecast, there should be much more correlation between volume growth and NII growth compared to this year. when it comes to nii in general before i hand over to stefan this is exactly what we tried to explain that when we assume that interest rates will more or less stay at the same level as they are today where this is also our forecast there should be much more correlation between volume growth and nii growth compared to this year We are quite happy that we succeeded to increase NII this year, and we should not forget that this year we have seen a decrease in interest rate environment. we are quite happy that we succeeded to increase nii this year and we should not forget that this year we have seen a decrease in interest rate environment It is just given the demand in our region. it is just given the demand in our region This is the only region in Europe which is still growing. this is the only region in europe which is still growing The demand in loan growth and our capability to fulfill this demand led to a situation that our NII is growing, although interest rates are coming down. If you put this in perspective for next year, and let's assume again that interest rate level will stay where it is, then our loan growth should be even better. The NII growth should be even better. The demand in loan growth and our capability to fulfill this demand led to a situation that our NII is growing, although interest rates are coming down. the demand in loan growth and our capability to fulfill this demand led to a situation that our nii is growing although interest rates are coming down If you put this in perspective for next year, and let's assume again that interest rate level will stay where it is, then our loan growth should be even better. if you put this in perspective for next year and let's assume again that interest rate level will stay where it is then our loan growth should be even better The NII growth should be even better. the nii growth should be even better

Speaker 4: I completely agree. That's exactly how we explain the situation. I have absolutely no disagreement with your statement that further on in the upcoming quarters, we could also see a further growth in NII. There is nothing in our statements that would contradict that. It was only the discussion around Q4, and you know exactly that there can always be a couple of effects that drive it a little bit more up and down. I completely agree. i completely agree That's exactly how we explain the situation. that's exactly how we explain the situation I have absolutely no disagreement with your statement that further on in the upcoming quarters, we could also see a further growth in NII. i have absolutely no disagreement with your statement that further on in the upcoming quarters we could also see a further growth in nii There is nothing in our statements that would contradict that. there is nothing in our statements that would contradict that It was only the discussion around Q4, and you know exactly that there can always be a couple of effects that drive it a little bit more up and down. it was only the discussion around q4 and you know exactly that there can always be a couple of effects that drive it a little bit more up and down I think our guidance for Q4 is also open on the upper side, so no problem with that. One reminder, just not to get too overly excited, of course, certain measures that we took very successfully also have a certain limit. In other words, deposit repricing doesn't go on forever, and we have been very successful in that across the markets, as we explained. Also, let's not forget that the funding, for example, wholesale funding levels, which we were perfectly making use of in 2025, there is no guarantee that those funding spreads remain at tight levels. I mean, we are super optimistic, but we also should remain realistic and not expect that things go through the roof. On your loan-to-deposit statement, I have a completely different opinion here. Very simply put, I think we are in a perfect sweet spot. We are in a perfect sweet spot. I think our guidance for Q4 is also open on the upper side, so no problem with that. i think our guidance for q4 is also open on the upper side so no problem with that One reminder, just not to get too overly excited, of course, certain measures that we took very successfully also have a certain limit. one reminder just not to get too overly excited of course certain measures that we took very successfully also have a certain limit In other words, deposit repricing doesn't go on forever, and we have been very successful in that across the markets, as we explained. in other words deposit repricing doesn't go on forever and we have been very successful in that across the markets as we explained Also, let's not forget that the funding, for example, wholesale funding levels, which we were perfectly making use of in 2025, there is no guarantee that those funding spreads remain at tight levels. also let's not forget that the funding for example wholesale funding levels which we were perfectly making use of in 2025 there is no guarantee that those funding spreads remain at tight levels I mean, we are super optimistic, but we also should remain realistic and not expect that things go through the roof. i mean we are super optimistic but we also should remain realistic and not expect that things go through the roof On your loan-to-deposit statement, I have a completely different opinion here. on your loan-to-deposit statement i have a completely different opinion here Very simply put, I think we are in a perfect sweet spot. very simply put i think we are in a perfect sweet spot We are in a perfect sweet spot. we are in a perfect sweet spot Anything around this 90% loan-to-deposit ratio across the group, I feel super comfortable with. Of course, there are big differences between the markets. I'm happy to go in a different session into the details market by market. Overall, the loan-to-deposit ratio is exactly where we like it to be in this rate environment. We will, of course, very closely watch all the indicators on the liquidity and deposit front, but so far could hardly be better. Thank you. Anything around this 90% loan-to-deposit ratio across the group, I feel super comfortable with. anything around this 90% loan-to-deposit ratio across the group i feel super comfortable with Of course, there are big differences between the markets. of course there are big differences between the markets I'm happy to go in a different session into the details market by market. i'm happy to go in a different session into the details market by market Overall, the loan-to-deposit ratio is exactly where we like it to be in this rate environment. overall the loan-to-deposit ratio is exactly where we like it to be in this rate environment We will, of course, very closely watch all the indicators on the liquidity and deposit front, but so far could hardly be better. we will of course very closely watch all the indicators on the liquidity and deposit front but so far could hardly be better Thank you. thank you

Speaker 11: All right. Thank you. All right. all right Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Gabor Kemeny from Autonomous Research. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Gabor Kemeny from Autonomous Research. the next question comes from gabor kemeny from autonomous research Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 1: Good morning. One question on Poland, please, and the bank tax in particular, the bank tax proposal. I believe this is still a proposal. If this gets implemented, how would that impact the operations of Santander Polska? I believe you are expecting to create significant goodwill with the deal. Good morning. good morning One question on Poland, please, and the bank tax in particular, the bank tax proposal. one question on poland please and the bank tax in particular the bank tax proposal I believe this is still a proposal. i believe this is still a proposal If this gets implemented, how would that impact the operations of Santander Polska? if this gets implemented how would that impact the operations of santander polska I believe you are expecting to create significant goodwill with the deal. i believe you are expecting to create significant goodwill with the deal Could the bank tax impact the valuation and with that the capital impact from this acquisition? That's the first question. Secondly, on the NII outlook, thank you for all the clarifications. Just numbers-wise, I believe you are annualizing close to the EUR 8 billion mark in Q3 or perhaps H2. I believe you guided around EUR 3 billion from Santander Polska, which together gets us to EUR 11 billion before considering growth. Are there any trends, any deviations you would like to highlight for our modeling? The 2026 NII outlook, please? The final one would be Czechia is about to. Gain a new government, form a new government. Do you have any views on the likelihood of the new government introducing another bank tax? Thank you. Could the bank tax impact the valuation and with that the capital impact from this acquisition? could the bank tax impact the valuation and with that the capital impact from this acquisition That's the first question. that's the first question Secondly, on the NII outlook, thank you for all the clarifications. secondly on the nii outlook thank you for all the clarifications Just numbers-wise, I believe you are annualizing close to the EUR 8 billion mark in Q3 or perhaps H2. just numbers-wise i believe you are annualizing close to the eur 8 billion mark in q3 or perhaps h2 I believe you guided around EUR 3 billion from Santander Polska, which together gets us to EUR 11 billion before considering growth. i believe you guided around eur 3 billion from santander polska which together gets us to eur 11 billion before considering growth Are there any trends, any deviations you would like to highlight for our modeling? are there any trends any deviations you would like to highlight for our modeling The 2026 NII outlook, please? the 2026 nii outlook please The final one would be Czechia is about to. the final one would be czechia is about to Gain a new government, form a new government. gain a new government form a new government Do you have any views on the likelihood of the new government introducing another bank tax? do you have any views on the likelihood of the new government introducing another bank tax Thank you. thank you

Speaker 14: Thank you, Gabor. Let me start with the last part of your question about Czech Republic. So far, and also not during the election campaigns, there was anything mentioned when it comes to banking tax. Of course, we know that all over Europe, banking taxes are an issue because a lot of countries have an issue with their public debt levels, which is not so much the case for the Czech Republic. I think therefore this is not such a hot topic in Czech Republic. From today's perspective, we don't expect a banking tax in the Czech Republic. Of course, I need a political disclaimer. You never know when it comes to politics. Thank you, Gabor. thank you gabor Let me start with the last part of your question about Czech Republic. let me start with the last part of your question about czech republic So far, and also not during the election campaigns, there was anything mentioned when it comes to banking tax. so far and also not during the election campaigns there was anything mentioned when it comes to banking tax Of course, we know that all over Europe, banking taxes are an issue because a lot of countries have an issue with their public debt levels, which is not so much the case for the Czech Republic. of course we know that all over europe banking taxes are an issue because a lot of countries have an issue with their public debt levels which is not so much the case for the czech republic I think therefore this is not such a hot topic in Czech Republic. i think therefore this is not such a hot topic in czech republic From today's perspective, we don't expect a banking tax in the Czech Republic. from today's perspective we don't expect a banking tax in the czech republic Of course, I need a political disclaimer. of course i need a political disclaimer You never know when it comes to politics. you never know when it comes to politics

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 4: On NII, Gabor, very briefly. I mean, I think your statement on the existing perimeter of Erste Group can only be signed off. That's correct. That's all fine. I'm not in the position to comment yet on detailed outlook for our future Polish subsidiaries. On NII, Gabor, very briefly. on nii gabor very briefly I mean, I think your statement on the existing perimeter of Erste Group can only be signed off. i mean i think your statement on the existing perimeter of erste group can only be signed off That's correct. that's correct That's all fine. that's all fine I'm not in the position to comment yet on detailed outlook for our future Polish subsidiaries. i'm not in the position to comment yet on detailed outlook for our future polish subsidiaries First of all, we don't know the detailed internal drivers, the hedges, all of that. Please ask you for understanding that we can only talk about that really after closing. Certainly, you can read a lot out of this from the reporting of our future Polish colleagues. On the banking tax, look, I completely agree. It's still in the political decision process. There are all kinds of discussions around that. I don't want to, and I cannot comment on that in more detail. What is very important to understand, even if the government proposal goes through one-to-one, we are talking about a one-time lift up to 31% in 2026, then 26%, and then 23% as, so to say, the new level, which of course eases substantially your assumption in terms of the terminal value and stuff like impairment tests and goodwill assumptions. First of all, we don't know the detailed internal drivers, the hedges, all of that. first of all we don't know the detailed internal drivers the hedges all of that Please ask you for understanding that we can only talk about that really after closing. please ask you for understanding that we can only talk about that really after closing Certainly, you can read a lot out of this from the reporting of our future Polish colleagues. certainly you can read a lot out of this from the reporting of our future polish colleagues On the banking tax, look, I completely agree. on the banking tax look i completely agree It's still in the political decision process. it's still in the political decision process There are all kinds of discussions around that. there are all kinds of discussions around that I don't want to, and I cannot comment on that in more detail. i don't want to and i cannot comment on that in more detail What is very important to understand, even if the government proposal goes through one-to-one, we are talking about a one-time lift up to 31% in 2026, then 26%, and then 23% as, so to say, the new level, which of course eases substantially your assumption in terms of the terminal value and stuff like impairment tests and goodwill assumptions. what is very important to understand even if the government proposal goes through one-to-one we are talking about a one-time lift up to 31% in 2026 then 26% and then 23% as so to say the new level which of course eases substantially your assumption in terms of the terminal value and stuff like impairment tests and goodwill assumptions We have been doing the numbers, obviously, and we don't see any whatsoever reason to adjust them now. Of course, we will do this ongoingly. We are in constant contact, of course, already today with our auditors in assessing the situation. So far, we don't see any changes on that. Adding to this, of course, and Peter said it in a couple of statements also publicly, the strategic rationale, as well as the overall, so to say, profitability, long-term outlook doesn't change at all. We are used to those kinds of measures. Do we like them? Obviously not. Do we have to live with them? Certainly, yes. Thank you. We have been doing the numbers, obviously, and we don't see any whatsoever reason to adjust them now. we have been doing the numbers obviously and we don't see any whatsoever reason to adjust them now Of course, we will do this ongoingly. of course we will do this ongoingly We are in constant contact, of course, already today with our auditors in assessing the situation. we are in constant contact of course already today with our auditors in assessing the situation So far, we don't see any changes on that. so far we don't see any changes on that Adding to this, of course, and Peter said it in a couple of statements also publicly, the strategic rationale, as well as the overall, so to say, profitability, long-term outlook doesn't change at all. adding to this of course and peter said it in a couple of statements also publicly the strategic rationale as well as the overall so to say profitability long-term outlook doesn't change at all We are used to those kinds of measures. we are used to those kinds of measures Do we like them? do we like them Obviously not. obviously not Do we have to live with them? do we have to live with them Certainly, yes. certainly yes Thank you. thank you

Speaker 1: Yeah, you are indeed. Thank you for all the comments. Thank you. Yeah, you are indeed. yeah you are indeed Thank you for all the comments. thank you for all the comments Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Ben Maher from KBW. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Ben Maher from KBW. the next question comes from ben maher from kbw Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 5: Thanks for taking my question. It's not two quick ones. The first one is just on the cost growth we're seeing in Czechia. That's obviously accelerated a fair bit in the quarter, but inflation has been quite low there for a while, so I'm just interested to see what the main driver of that is. My second question is just on the overlay releases. I think you did mention it before that you're guiding to fewer releases than what you were guiding to last quarter. I was wondering if you could give any color on the potential releases for next year. Do you have a view on the terminal stock that you're targeting, or is it something that you don't really target? Thank you. Thanks for taking my question. thanks for taking my question It's not two quick ones. it's not two quick ones The first one is just on the cost growth we're seeing in Czechia. the first one is just on the cost growth we're seeing in czechia That's obviously accelerated a fair bit in the quarter, but inflation has been quite low there for a while, so I'm just interested to see what the main driver of that is. that's obviously accelerated a fair bit in the quarter but inflation has been quite low there for a while so i'm just interested to see what the main driver of that is My second question is just on the overlay releases. my second question is just on the overlay releases I think you did mention it before that you're guiding to fewer releases than what you were guiding to last quarter. i think you did mention it before that you're guiding to fewer releases than what you were guiding to last quarter I was wondering if you could give any color on the potential releases for next year. i was wondering if you could give any color on the potential releases for next year Do you have a view on the terminal stock that you're targeting, or is it something that you don't really target? do you have a view on the terminal stock that you're targeting or is it something that you don't really target Thank you. thank you

Speaker 9: I start with a question on the releases of FLI and overlays. I said for this year, for the remainder of this year, it's roughly EUR 70 million, which we expect, and going forward with even somewhat lower levels. Maybe around EUR 50 million releases next year, and then we would rather expect to have come to a certain stock of FLI, which we would also then carry forward. This is the current expectation. No huge releases, but some. I start with a question on the releases of FLI and overlays. i start with a question on the releases of fli and overlays I said for this year, for the remainder of this year, it's roughly EUR 70 million, which we expect, and going forward with even somewhat lower levels. i said for this year for the remainder of this year it's roughly eur 70 million which we expect and going forward with even somewhat lower levels Maybe around EUR 50 million releases next year, and then we would rather expect to have come to a certain stock of FLI, which we would also then carry forward. maybe around eur 50 million releases next year and then we would rather expect to have come to a certain stock of fli which we would also then carry forward This is the current expectation. this is the current expectation No huge releases, but some . no huge releases but some

Speaker 4: I think your question, we had a bad line at this moment, but I think your question was around Czech costs, right? I think your question, we had a bad line at this moment, but I think your question was around Czech costs, right? i think your question we had a bad line at this moment but i think your question was around czech costs right

Speaker 5: Yeah. Just the acceleration in the cost growth in Czechia during the quarter. Yeah. yeah Just the acceleration in the cost growth in Czechia during the quarter. just the acceleration in the cost growth in czechia during the quarter

Speaker 4: No, I think, I mean, look, I just looked up a couple of numbers with my colleagues. I don't see any specifics. The wage inflation level roundabout is in the mid-single digits. We had adjustments of salaries around 5%. We had a couple of very good and forward-looking initiatives on IT side, AI, and so on in Czech Republic, which also played to it. Maybe if you can be more specific, I don't see any outlier whatsoever in Czech Republic, by no means on the cost side. It's business as usual, I would say. Comparing to the market, I think we are at average. Maybe you spotted something, then let us know. No, I think, I mean, look, I just looked up a couple of numbers with my colleagues. no i think i mean look i just looked up a couple of numbers with my colleagues I don't see any specifics. i don't see any specifics The wage inflation level roundabout is in the mid-single digits. the wage inflation level roundabout is in the mid-single digits We had adjustments of salaries around 5%. we had adjustments of salaries around 5% We had a couple of very good and forward-looking initiatives on IT side, AI, and so on in Czech Republic, which also played to it. we had a couple of very good and forward-looking initiatives on it side ai and so on in czech republic which also played to it Maybe if you can be more specific, I don't see any outlier whatsoever in Czech Republic, by no means o n the cost side. I t's business as usual, I would say. maybe if you can be more specific i don't see any outlier whatsoever in czech republic by no means o n the cost side. i t's business as usual i would say Comparing to the market, I think we are at average. comparing to the market i think we are at average Maybe you spotted something, then let us know. maybe you spotted something then let us know

Speaker 5: Okay. Thank you. Okay. okay Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Krishnendra Dubey from Barclays. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Krishnendra Dubey from Barclays. the next question comes from krishnendra dubey from barclays Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 3: Thanks for taking my question. Thanks for the color on the NII. I just wanted to check on the fee guidance, actually. As of till nine months, you're trading at 8%. I know you say more than 5%, so it could be 5, 6, 7, consensus 6.5. How do you see that trend developing? The second question was on the 2026 net profit guidance. When you talk about adjusted EUR 4 billion, is it pre-AT1 or is it post-AT1? Lastly, you talked about EUR 200 million of one-offs. Are those tax deductible or are those not tax deductible? Thank you. Thanks for taking my question. thanks for taking my question Thanks for the color on the NII. thanks for the color on the nii I just wanted to check on the fee guidance, actually. i just wanted to check on the fee guidance actually As of till nine months, you're trading at 8%. as of till nine months you're trading at 8% I know you say more than 5%, so it could be 5, 6, 7, consensus 6.5. i know you say more than 5% so it could be 5 6 7 consensus 6.5 How do you see that trend developing? how do you see that trend developing The second question was on the 2026 net profit guidance. the second question was on the 2026 net profit guidance When you talk about adjusted EUR 4 billion, is it pre-AT1 or is it post-AT1? when you talk about adjusted eur 4 billion is it pre-at1 or is it post-at1 Lastly, you talked about EUR 200 million of one-offs. lastly you talked about eur 200 million of one-offs Are those tax deductible or are those not tax deductible? are those tax deductible or are those not tax deductible Thank you. thank you

Speaker 4: The second one is easy. Everything that we talk about is pre-AT1. If you do, so to say, your math around, for example, dividend calculation or the like, we can provide you with the AT1 payments, absolutely no problem. All the numbers that Peter and myself were using are pre-AT1, dividend or, so to say, AT1 costs. On the fee trends, yes, you are perfectly right that we had this discussion, as you can imagine. Given the Q3 or year-to-date numbers, the greater and %, The second one is easy. the second one is easy Everything that we talk about is pre-AT1. everything that we talk about is pre-at1 If you do, so to say, your math around, for example, dividend calculation or the like, we can provide you with the AT1 payments, absolutely no problem. if you do so to say your math around for example dividend calculation or the like we can provide you with the at1 payments absolutely no problem All the numbers that Peter and myself were using are pre-AT1, dividend or, so to say, AT1 costs. all the numbers that peter and myself were using are pre-at1 dividend or so to say at1 costs On the fee trends, yes, you are perfectly right that we had this discussion, as you can imagine. on the fee trends yes you are perfectly right that we had this discussion as you can imagine Given the Q3 or year-to-date numbers, the greater and %, given the q3 or year-to-date numbers the greater and % Looks thick, conservative. On the other hand, we all know that on fees, 1 percentage point is something around EUR 25 million, EUR 30 million. That can easily jump up and down. What value is there if you go to mid single upper digit, peep up? In that sense, there is no breaking whatsoever. Q4 usually is very strong, always subject to, for example, capital markets and so on in terms of asset management fees and so on. There is no whatsoever slowdown, as I said in the presentation already, visible. What will be interesting, of course, to see, on the back of here we have again the similar effect in the other direction. Looks thick, conservative. looks thick conservative On the other hand, we all know that on fees, 1 percentage point is something around EUR 25 million, EUR 30 million. on the other hand we all know that on fees 1 percentage point is something around eur 25 million eur 30 million That can easily jump up and down. that can easily jump up and down What value is there if you go to mid single upper digit, peep up? what value is there if you go to mid single upper digit peep up In that sense, there is no breaking whatsoever. in that sense there is no breaking whatsoever Q4 usually is very strong, always subject to, for example, capital markets and so on in terms of asset management fees and so on. q4 usually is very strong always subject to for example capital markets and so on in terms of asset management fees and so on There is no whatsoever slowdown, as I said in the presentation already, visible. there is no whatsoever slowdown as i said in the presentation already visible What will be interesting, of course, to see, on the back of here we have again the similar effect in the other direction. what will be interesting of course to see on the back of here we have again the similar effect in the other direction If inflation constantly comes down and slows down, then obviously some of the fee drivers might slow, but nonetheless, with our strategic focus, we are super optimistic, by the way, also for Poland that we can improve some of the fee generating activities substantially. If inflation constantly comes down and slows down, then obviously some of the fee drivers might slow, but nonetheless, with our strategic focus, we are super optimistic, by the way, also for Poland that we can improve some of the fee generating activities substantially. if inflation constantly comes down and slows down then obviously some of the fee drivers might slow but nonetheless with our strategic focus we are super optimistic by the way also for poland that we can improve some of the fee generating activities substantially

Speaker 14: Maybe if I may add some kind of sentiment from a business point of view, as Stefan absolutely rightly mentioned, inflation was already coming down this year. What we have expected for this year was a little bit more decrease in the fee related payments, which didn't happen so far. I think our capability to generate new clients is supporting us there to compensate the decrease in inflation and the potential impact on the payment fees. When it comes to asset management, it's clear that the volatility can increase, of course, in the upcoming months, which will be mainly reflected in the volume of our assets under management in asset management. Maybe if I may add some kind of sentiment from a business point of view, as Stefan absolutely rightly mentioned, inflation was already coming down this year. maybe if i may add some kind of sentiment from a business point of view as stefan absolutely rightly mentioned inflation was already coming down this year What we have expected for this year was a little bit more decrease in the fee related payments, which didn't happen so far. what we have expected for this year was a little bit more decrease in the fee related payments which didn't happen so far I think our capability to generate new clients is supporting us there to compensate the decrease in inflation and the potential impact on the payment fees. i think our capability to generate new clients is supporting us there to compensate the decrease in inflation and the potential impact on the payment fees When it comes to asset management, it's clear that the volatility can increase, of course, in the upcoming months, which will be mainly reflected in the volume of our assets under management in asset management. when it comes to asset management it's clear that the volatility can increase of course in the upcoming months which will be mainly reflected in the volume of our assets under management in asset management When it comes to fee income generation, the way how we have built up or succeeded to build up our asset management proposition in most of our countries is this monthly, regularly investments in asset management products, which makes us not so much dependent on volatility in the market, because it's kind of cost average principle, which is supporting our clients to build up wealth in a very stable way. Last but not least, also coming back to Stefan's remark, we see a huge potential in terms of fee income and asset management in Poland, because we believe that this market is somehow under-penetrated when it comes to asset management, which is not a surprise because there was a different history in interest rates compared to other countries we are operating in. If I remember correctly, we've never seen negative interest rates in Poland. When it comes to fee income generation, the way how we have built up or succeeded to build up our asset management proposition in most of our countries is this monthly, regularly investments in asset management products, which makes us not so much dependent on volatility in the market, because it's kind of cost average principle, which is supporting our clients to build up wealth in a very stable way. when it comes to fee income generation the way how we have built up or succeeded to build up our asset management proposition in most of our countries is this monthly regularly investments in asset management products which makes us not so much dependent on volatility in the market because it's kind of cost average principle which is supporting our clients to build up wealth in a very stable way Last but not least, also coming back to Stefan's remark, we see a huge potential in terms of fee income and asset management in Poland, because we believe that this market is somehow under-penetrated when it comes to asset management, which is not a surprise because there was a different history in interest rates compared to other countries we are operating in. last but not least also coming back to stefan's remark we see a huge potential in terms of fee income and asset management in poland because we believe that this market is somehow under-penetrated when it comes to asset management which is not a surprise because there was a different history in interest rates compared to other countries we are operating in If I remember correctly, we've never seen negative interest rates in Poland. if i remember correctly we've never seen negative interest rates in poland To say, the engagement or the love to term deposits is a little bit higher compared to other countries. When you look at the volumes of asset management, and given the size of the market and given the proposition of our bank, we see a lot of opportunities. To say, the engagement or the love to term deposits is a little bit higher compared to other countries. to say the engagement or the love to term deposits is a little bit higher compared to other countries When you look at the volumes of asset management, and given the size of the market and given the proposition of our bank, we see a lot of opportunities. when you look at the volumes of asset management and given the size of the market and given the proposition of our bank we see a lot of opportunities

Speaker 4: Thank you, Peter. We were speculating, I think you asked about the tax deductibility of the integration costs and so on. This is very important information. The lion's share of it certainly is tax deductible. That's absolutely clear. Details can be given once we are more specific and have the detailed costs and everything on the table. The general answer is yes. Thank you, Peter. thank you peter We were speculating, I think you asked about the tax deductibility of the integration costs and so on. we were speculating i think you asked about the tax deductibility of the integration costs and so on This is very important information. this is very important information The lion's share of it certainly is tax deductible. the lion's share of it certainly is tax deductible That's absolutely clear. that's absolutely clear Details can be given once we are more specific and have the detailed costs and everything on the table. details can be given once we are more specific and have the detailed costs and everything on the table The general answer is yes. the general answer is yes

Speaker 3: Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you. thank you Thanks a lot. thanks a lot

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. the next question comes from riccardo rovere from mediobanca Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Thanks a lot for taking my questions. First of all, is on the, if I'm not mistaken, EUR 300 million credit losses that may burden your profit and loss in 2026. Just to be clear, this is the purchase price allocation when you're measuring all the assets and all the liabilities of Santander Bank Polska at market prices. This eventually should lower the goodwill that you will book out of the transaction. It should be kind of capital neutral, if I understand it correctly. Completely irrelevant from that standpoint. The second question is just a clarification from Alexandra. If I'm not mistaken, I understand that in 2026 you expect to use only EUR 50 million of FLIs, just a confirmation of this number. Thanks a lot for taking my questions. thanks a lot for taking my questions First of all, is on the, if I'm not mistaken, EUR 300 million credit losses that may burden your profit and loss in 2026. first of all is on the if i'm not mistaken eur 300 million credit losses that may burden your profit and loss in 2026 Just to be clear, this is the purchase price allocation when you're measuring all the assets and all the liabilities of Santander Bank Polska at market prices. just to be clear this is the purchase price allocation when you're measuring all the assets and all the liabilities of santander bank polska at market prices This eventually should lower the goodwill that you will book out of the transaction. this eventually should lower the goodwill that you will book out of the transaction It should be kind of capital neutral, if I understand it correctly. it should be kind of capital neutral if i understand it correctly Completely irrelevant from that standpoint. completely irrelevant from that standpoint The second question is just a clarification from Alexandra. the second question is just a clarification from alexandra If I'm not mistaken, I understand that in 2026 you expect to use only EUR 50 million of FLIs, just a confirmation of this number. if i'm not mistaken i understand that in 2026 you expect to use only eur 50 million of flis just a confirmation of this number If possible, I'd love to hear your thoughts if the SRTs that you have done and that you plan to do, as far as I understand, will have a revenue impact at some point. In case, how much it should be. I have a question on Poland and on the Advocate General, a month ago or whenever it was, talked about, said that the, let's say, the Polish courts have the right to look into the VIBOR. Using VIBOR as a benchmark. Is it something that you're looking at? Is it something that worries you? Is it a matter of concern for you? I have another question on deposits, if I may. Wage growth in all the countries where you operate is running above GDP growth. I guess this is the reason why the deposit growth, I've seen it at least in some countries, exceeds loan growth. If possible, I'd love to hear your thoughts if the SRTs that you have done and that you plan to do, as far as I understand, will have a revenue impact at some point. if possible i'd love to hear your thoughts if the srts that you have done and that you plan to do as far as i understand will have a revenue impact at some point In case, how much it should be. in case how much it should be I have a question on Poland and on the Advocate General, a month ago or whenever it was, talked about, said that the, let's say, the Polish courts have the right to look into the VIBOR. i have a question on poland and on the advocate general a month ago or whenever it was talked about said that the let's say the polish courts have the right to look into the vibor Using VIBOR as a benchmark. using vibor as a benchmark Is it something that you're looking at? is it something that you're looking at Is it something that worries you? is it something that worries you Is it a matter of concern for you? is it a matter of concern for you I have another question on deposits, if I may. i have another question on deposits if i may Wage growth in all the countries where you operate is running above GDP growth. wage growth in all the countries where you operate is running above gdp growth I guess this is the reason why the deposit growth, I've seen it at least in some countries, exceeds loan growth. i guess this is the reason why the deposit growth i've seen it at least in some countries, exceeds loan growth Is that supposed to continue, you think? If that continues, do you see reason or ways to move some of these deposits, considering 90% loan to deposit ratio or something like that, into the asset management, which, if I'm not mistaken, hit EUR 100 billion? Those have been growing pretty fast. Are you happy with the amount of Asset Management fees, wealth management fees within your revenue base? Or is it something that you would consider expanding? Thanks. Is that supposed to continue, you think? is that supposed to continue you think If that continues, do you see reason or ways to move some of these deposits, considering 90% loan to deposit ratio or something like that, into the asset management, which, if I'm not mistaken, hit EUR 100 billion? if that continues do you see reason or ways to move some of these deposits considering 90% loan to deposit ratio or something like that into the asset management which if i'm not mistaken hit eur 100 billion Those have been growing pretty fast. those have been growing pretty fast Are you happy with the amount of Asset Management fees, wealth management fees within your revenue base? are you happy with the amount of asset management fees wealth management fees within your revenue base Or is it something that you would consider expanding? or is it something that you would consider expanding Thanks. thanks

Speaker 9: Okay. Let me start. Yes, I can confirm, we expect currently EUR 50 million release for 2026, but not only from FLI, this also includes some releases from the current overlays that we have for the cyclicals. The second one, this I cannot confirm. This up to maximum EUR 300 million that I was mentioning, day one is sale recognition, is not the PPA effect. Under IFRS, there are two topics. One is IFRS 3, where we are obliged to measure the financial assets at fair value on the acquisition date. On top comes IFRS 9, subsequent measurement, where we are forced to book the performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on the level of the mother company immediately. It is not the PPA effect. It is a combination of IFRS 3 fair valuation and additionally IFRS 9 requirements. Okay. okay Let me start. let me start Yes, I can confirm, we expect currently EUR 50 million release for 2026, but not only from FLI, this also includes some releases from the current overlays that we have for the cyclicals. yes i can confirm we expect currently eur 50 million release for 2026 but not only from fli this also includes some releases from the current overlays that we have for the cyclicals The second one, this I cannot confirm. the second one this i cannot confirm This up to maximum EUR 300 million that I was mentioning, day one is sale recognition, is not the PPA effect. this up to maximum eur 300 million that i was mentioning day one is sale recognition is not the ppa effect Under IFRS, there are two topics. under ifrs there are two topics One is IFRS 3, where we are obliged to measure the financial assets at fair value on the acquisition date. one is ifrs 3 where we are obliged to measure the financial assets at fair value on the acquisition date On top comes IFRS 9, subsequent measurement, where we are forced to book the performing ECL of the acquired portfolio on the level of the mother company immediately. on top comes ifrs 9 subsequent measurement where we are forced to book the performing ecl of the acquired portfolio on the level of the mother company immediately It is not the PPA effect. It is a combination of IFRS 3 fair valuation and additionally IFRS 9 requirements. it is not the ppa effect. it is a combination of ifrs 3 fair valuation and additionally ifrs 9 requirements We also have, if you're interested, the paragraphs for you to look it up. I'm sure Thomas will be happy to take this up afterwards. We also have, if you're interested, the paragraphs for you to look it up. we also have if you're interested the paragraphs for you to look it up I'm sure Thomas will be happy to take this up afterwards. i'm sure thomas will be happy to take this up afterwards

Speaker 4: All right. Onto SRTs. Thanks for the question because it gives me opportunity to answer a few points. Of course, the ones you were asking about, but also some you have not been asking for. First, what costs are associated with the SRTs? Obviously, there is no free lunch anywhere. Therefore, very clearly, if we conclude all the SRTs currently foreseen for the rest of the year or latest in Q1, then you have around about for the next two, three years, a fee expense of EUR 50 million. Yeah. So that's exactly the cost. It's booked in the fee expenses since they are kind of considered as insurance payments, if you want to have a comparison, and you know that anyway. All right. all right Onto SRTs. onto srts Thanks for the question because it gives me opportunity to answer a few points. thanks for the question because it gives me opportunity to answer a few points Of course, the ones you were asking about, but also some you have not been asking for. of course the ones you were asking about but also some you have not been asking for First, what costs are associated with the SRTs? first what costs are associated with the srts Obviously, there is no free lunch anywhere. obviously there is no free lunch anywhere Therefore, very clearly, if we conclude all the SRTs currently foreseen for the rest of the year or latest in Q1, then you have around about for the next two, three years, a fee expense of EUR 50 million. therefore very clearly if we conclude all the srts currently foreseen for the rest of the year or latest in q1 then you have around about for the next two three years a fee expense of eur 50 million Yeah. yeah So that's exactly the cost. so that's exactly the cost It's booked in the fee expenses since they are kind of considered as insurance payments, if you want to have a comparison, and you know that anyway. it's booked in the fee expenses since they are kind of considered as insurance payments if you want to have a comparison and you know that anyway What is very important to mention is that we have an extremely well-diversified portfolio of SRTs in planning, both in terms of geographies as well as in terms of areas, so to say, of business. Going forward, Alexandra and myself have discussed this in very much detail with our teams. We want to use SRTs not only as a capital optimization measure, but also as a kind of portfolio optimization tool. I think it's both in terms of segment risks as well as optimization on here, on pockets right and left. We learned a lot in the last two years again. We are super happy to have this tool at hand. In terms of cost and capital relief, I think it's a fantastic tool for our current tasks and for our current goals. Maybe last comment to put these things in perspective. What is very important to mention is that we have an extremely well-diversified portfolio of SRTs in planning, both in terms of geographies as well as in terms of areas, so to say, of business. what is very important to mention is that we have an extremely well-diversified portfolio of srts in planning both in terms of geographies as well as in terms of areas so to say of business Going forward, Alexandra and myself have discussed this in very much detail with our teams. going forward alexandra and myself have discussed this in very much detail with our teams We want to use SRTs not only as a capital optimization measure, but also as a kind of portfolio optimization tool. we want to use srts not only as a capital optimization measure but also as a kind of portfolio optimization tool I think it's both in terms of segment risks as well as optimization on here, on pockets right and left. i think it's both in terms of segment risks as well as optimization on here on pockets right and left We learned a lot in the last two years again. we learned a lot in the last two years again We are super happy to have this tool at hand. we are super happy to have this tool at hand In terms of cost and capital relief, I think it's a fantastic tool for our current tasks and for our current goals. in terms of cost and capital relief i think it's a fantastic tool for our current tasks and for our current goals Maybe last comment to put these things in perspective. maybe last comment to put these things in perspective If you look at the overall European landscape of banks and comparable players in the market, we have been way below the utilization of SRTs so far. With all the executions that we are aiming for, we should land somewhere at the average of European banks, comparable to ourselves. That's also where we feel very comfortable. Thank you. If you look at the overall European landscape of banks and comparable players in the market, we have been way below the utilization of SRTs so far. if you look at the overall european landscape of banks and comparable players in the market we have been way below the utilization of srts so far With all the executions that we are aiming for, we should land somewhere at the average of European banks, comparable to ourselves. with all the executions that we are aiming for we should land somewhere at the average of european banks comparable to ourselves That's also where we feel very comfortable. that's also where we feel very comfortable Thank you. thank you

Speaker 14: If I may answer or go on with the law lecture here, when it comes to VIBOR, not too much news since we talked last time. There is this preparation of the decision of the European Court, which is saying that the usage of VIBOR in a contract is compliant in loan contracts. There are also some decisions in Poland from local courts, which are in favor of banks. I don't want to downplay it too much because it's drilling down that this seems to be not a systemic problem, like the Swiss franc topic was several years ago. It seems to be a topic which is drilling down to the concrete advice which was given to clients, you know, if advisors have made clients aware that they have floating rates, right? I think this is a completely different situation. If I may answer or go on with the law lecture here, when it comes to VIBOR, not too much news since we talked last time. if i may answer or go on with the law lecture here when it comes to vibor not too much news since we talked last time There is this preparation of the decision of the European Court, which is saying that the usage of VIBOR in a contract is compliant in loan contracts. there is this preparation of the decision of the european court which is saying that the usage of vibor in a contract is compliant in loan contracts There are also some decisions in Poland from local courts, which are in favor of banks. there are also some decisions in poland from local courts which are in favor of banks I don't want to downplay it too much because it's drilling down that this seems to be not a systemic problem, like the Swiss franc topic was several years ago. i don't want to downplay it too much because it's drilling down that this seems to be not a systemic problem like the swiss franc topic was several years ago It seems to be a topic which is drilling down to the concrete advice which was given to clients, you know, if advisors have made clients aware that they have floating rates, right? it seems to be a topic which is drilling down to the concrete advice which was given to clients you know if advisors have made clients aware that they have floating rates right I think this is a completely different situation. i think this is a completely different situation To sum it up, we are fully aware that consumer protection is here to stay. This is something we are dealing with in all our markets. Just to remember, everyone, this started in Austria roughly 20 years ago. It's not only about kind of countries like Hungary or Poland. This is a topic where we are dealing with it all the time. The easiest way to be compliant is to come up with compliant products. To sum it up, we are fully aware that consumer protection is here to stay. to sum it up we are fully aware that consumer protection is here to stay This is something we are dealing with in all our markets. this is something we are dealing with in all our markets Just to remember, everyone, this started in Austria roughly 20 years ago. just to remember everyone this started in austria roughly 20 years ago It's not only about kind of countries like Hungary or Poland. it's not only about kind of countries like hungary or poland This is a topic where we are dealing with it all the time. this is a topic where we are dealing with it all the time The easiest way to be compliant is to come up with compliant products. the easiest way to be compliant is to come up with compliant products

Speaker 4: Yes. Peter, do you want to, I think I take the first part of the deposit question. Yes. yes Peter, do you want to, I think I take the first part of the deposit question. peter do you want to i think i take the first part of the deposit question

Speaker 14: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 4: With regard to growth, yes, well spotted. Of course, short term, there are deviations from GDP growth, deposit growth, both on individual level for us, but also in the respective markets. That stems from various matters, as you perfectly know. It's a liquidity, central bank liquidity, as well as money supply overall. I think that in general, we are an extremely attractive bank to our depositors. The trust that we have been gaining and we are working on every single day is a factor. We are a big player in all the markets. All of that plays into this. On your other question, I think that's obvious, we want to have a very good balance between keeping a strong deposit base, but of course, advising our clients for a right balance of asset management products, long-term savings, and better yielding products. I think it's all about the balance. With regard to growth, yes, well spotted. with regard to growth yes well spotted Of course, short term, there are deviations from GDP growth, deposit growth, both on individual level for us, but also in the respective markets. of course short term there are deviations from gdp growth deposit growth both on individual level for us but also in the respective markets That stems from various matters, as you perfectly know. that stems from various matters as you perfectly know It's a liquidity, central bank liquidity, as well as money supply overall. it's a liquidity central bank liquidity as well as money supply overall I think that in general, we are an extremely attractive bank to our depositors. i think that in general we are an extremely attractive bank to our depositors The trust that we have been gaining and we are working on every single day is a factor. the trust that we have been gaining and we are working on every single day is a factor We are a big player in all the markets. we are a big player in all the markets All of that plays into this. all of that plays into this On your other question, I think that's obvious, we want to have a very good balance between keeping a strong deposit base, but of course, advising our clients for a right balance of asset management products, long-term savings, and better yielding products. on your other question i think that's obvious we want to have a very good balance between keeping a strong deposit base but of course advising our clients for a right balance of asset management products long-term savings and better yielding products I think it's all about the balance. i think it's all about the balance It's all about good advice. If you look at also the feedback of the market and all these measures like MPS, CXI, I think our colleagues are doing an outstanding job there. That's also the goal for the future. Money which is available for a longer-term saving, of course, should not be kept necessarily on the lowest dealing levels. That's the way we are advising our clients. That's how we want to help them build their wealth for their long-term future. It's all about good advice. it's all about good advice If you look at also the feedback of the market and all these measures like MPS, CXI, I think our colleagues are doing an outstanding job there. if you look at also the feedback of the market and all these measures like mps cxi i think our colleagues are doing an outstanding job there That's also the goal for the future. that's also the goal for the future Money which is available for a longer-term saving, of course, should not be kept necessarily on the lowest dealing levels. money which is available for a longer-term saving of course should not be kept necessarily on the lowest dealing levels That's the way we are advising our clients. that's the way we are advising our clients That's how we want to help them build their wealth for their long-term future. that's how we want to help them build their wealth for their long-term future

Speaker 6: Thanks. Thanks, Stefan. If I may follow up one second on this topic. At the moment, with the current pricing at the moment of the deposit, is it better to have the deposits on balance sheet, so feeding an NII, or off balance sheet in Asset Management? Where is the margin better now? Thanks. thanks Thanks, Stefan. thanks stefan If I may follow up one second on this topic. if i may follow up one second on this topic At the moment, with the current pricing at the moment of the deposit, is it better to have the deposits on balance sheet, so feeding an NII, or off balance sheet in Asset Management? at the moment with the current pricing at the moment of the deposit is it better to have the deposits on balance sheet so feeding an nii or off balance sheet in asset management Where is the margin better now? where is the margin better now

Speaker 14: I think there's no clear answer to it. It's very much depending on client situation, of course. On the other hand, it's also fair to say that I think we have proven over the last, let's say, 24, even longer period of time, that our capability to manage interest rates on deposits in both kinds of environments, increasing interest rates and decreasing interest rates, we are doing very well. Point number one. Point number two is, Stefan rightly mentioned, for long-term investments, we are very much in favor of our clients to invest in asset management products because we still believe that this is an area not only in countries like Poland where we see room for improvement. This is true for all over Europe. I think there's no clear answer to it. i think there's no clear answer to it It's very much depending on client situation, of course. it's very much depending on client situation of course On the other hand, it's also fair to say that I think we have proven over the last, let's say, 24, even longer period of time, that our capability to manage interest rates on deposits in both kinds of environments, increasing interest rates and decreasing interest rates, we are doing very well. on the other hand it's also fair to say that i think we have proven over the last let's say 24 even longer period of time that our capability to manage interest rates on deposits in both kinds of environments increasing interest rates and decreasing interest rates we are doing very well Point number one. point number one Point number two is, Stefan rightly mentioned, for long-term investments, we are very much in favor of our clients to invest in asset management products because we still believe that this is an area not only in countries like Poland where we see room for improvement. point number two is stefan rightly mentioned for long-term investments we are very much in favor of our clients to invest in asset management products because we still believe that this is an area not only in countries like poland where we see room for improvement This is true for all over Europe. this is true for all over europe You know, look at the Draghi report, look at the later report, look at every kind of speech politicians are giving typically on Sunday, not always having impact, of course. This is very obvious that there will be a strong tendency over the upcoming 20-30 years that people in Europe will invest much more in asset management products. There is no clear guidance between technically P&L measures. We are doing very well in managing interest rate levels, and of course giving advice, the right proper advice to our clients when it comes to asset management. You know, look at the Draghi report, look at the later report, look at every kind of speech politicians are giving typically on Sunday, not always having impact, of course. you know look at the draghi report look at the later report look at every kind of speech politicians are giving typically on sunday not always having impact of course This is very obvious that there will be a strong tendency over the upcoming 20- 30 years that people in Europe will invest much more in asset management products. this is very obvious that there will be a strong tendency over the upcoming 20- 30 years that people in europe will invest much more in asset management products There is no clear guidance between technically P&L measures. there is no clear guidance between technically p&l measures We are doing very well in managing interest rate levels, and of course giving advice, the right proper advice to our clients when it comes to asset management. we are doing very well in managing interest rate levels and of course giving advice the right proper advice to our clients when it comes to asset management

Speaker 6: Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. yeah Thanks. thanks

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Seamus Murphy from Carraighill. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Seamus Murphy from Carraighill. the next question comes from seamus murphy from carraighill Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 7: Hi. Yeah, two questions, please. Just one, I suppose one of the major positives for Erste when we look across Europe is that, relative to most of your peers who are also growing, is that you've kept your FTEs or your employee numbers pretty constant since 2022 despite the balance sheet growth. I suppose my question is, how long can this be sustained? Should we consider that the employee numbers will grow into 2027? How are you thinking about the growth in employee numbers? Secondly, just very briefly on NII, I suppose when I think about NII, there are two components to it. Obviously, we have the structural element to it, which is the potential yield uplift, sales come from your current account, reinvestment of your maturing fixed rate products. Hi. hi Yeah, two questions, please. yeah two questions please Just one, I suppose one of the major positives for Erste when we look across Europe is that, relative to most of your peers who are also growing, is that you've kept your FTEs or your employee numbers pretty constant since 2022 despite the balance sheet growth. just one i suppose one of the major positives for erste when we look across europe is that relative to most of your peers who are also growing is that you've kept your ftes or your employee numbers pretty constant since 2022 despite the balance sheet growth I suppose my question is, how long can this be sustained? i suppose my question is how long can this be sustained Should we consider that the employee numbers will grow into 2027? should we consider that the employee numbers will grow into 2027 How are you thinking about the growth in employee numbers? how are you thinking about the growth in employee numbers Secondly, just very briefly on NII, I suppose when I think about NII, there are two components to it. secondly just very briefly on nii i suppose when i think about nii, there are two components to it Obviously, we have the structural element to it, which is the potential yield uplift, sales come from your current account, reinvestment of your maturing fixed rate products. obviously we have the structural element to it which is the potential yield uplift sales come from your current account reinvestment of your maturing fixed rate products In this quarter, I think you mentioned Slovakia in particular for this, in terms of the uplift that came this quarter. Assuming that this is happening across the group, I suppose it would be great to know the size of the fixed rate mortgage pool back in your current accounts and also what the current backbook yield is on those products versus the front book, so we can have some estimate of how this component of NII evolves in the next three to four years. The last component of that question is, obviously, we've seen this move into current accounts. In this quarter, I think you mentioned Slovakia in particular for this, in terms of the uplift that came this quarter. in this quarter i think you mentioned slovakia in particular for this in terms of the uplift that came this quarter Assuming that this is happening across the group, I suppose it would be great to know the size of the fixed rate mortgage pool back in your current accounts and also what the current backbook yield is on those products versus the front book, so we can have some estimate of how this component of NII evolves in the next three to four years. assuming that this is happening across the group i suppose it would be great to know the size of the fixed rate mortgage pool back in your current accounts and also what the current backbook yield is on those products versus the front book so we can have some estimate of how this component of nii evolves in the next three to four years The last component of that question is, obviously, we've seen this move into current accounts. the last component of that question is obviously we've seen this move into current accounts As the curve steepens from here and the base that you do believe the curve to steepen, how quickly do you, or how do you decide between the reinvestment rate where you put it at cash at central bank or whether you again reinvest in your own fixed rate mortgage products? Thank you. As the curve steepens from here and the base that you do believe the curve to steepen, how quickly do you, or how do you decide between the reinvestment rate where you put it at cash at central bank or whether you again reinvest in your own fixed rate mortgage products? as the curve steepens from here and the base that you do believe the curve to steepen how quickly do you or how do you decide between the reinvestment rate where you put it at cash at central bank or whether you again reinvest in your own fixed rate mortgage products Thank you. thank you

Speaker 14: If I may start, let me answer your question related to FTE development. Of course, we try to keep the numbers of FTEs flat in a way that we, the way how we look at our business is it should be a scalable business, which is anyhow not an easy task because we are in the same situation like all other European banks when it comes to IT legacy. It's a lot of work to further improve efficiency in terms of technology. This is a clear part of our strategy that we, and you've seen some investments this year already, really what we always called investments related to our strategy, that we want to achieve a level of end-to-end processes which should help us to keep FTE development stable in the future, even adding additional business on our balance sheet. This is a very clear goal. If I may start, let me answer your question related to FTE development. if i may start let me answer your question related to fte development Of course, we try to keep the numbers of FTEs flat in a way that we, the way how we look at our business is it should be a scalable business, which is anyhow not an easy task because we are in the same situation like all other European banks when it comes to IT legacy. of course we try to keep the numbers of ftes flat in a way that we the way how we look at our business is it should be a scalable business which is anyhow not an easy task because we are in the same situation like all other european banks when it comes to it legacy It's a lot of work to further improve efficiency in terms of technology. it's a lot of work to further improve efficiency in terms of technology This is a clear part of our strategy that we, and you've seen some investments this year already, really what we always called investments related to our strategy, that we want to achieve a level of end-to-end processes which should help us to keep FTE development stable in the future, even adding additional business on our balance sheet. this is a clear part of our strategy that we and you've seen some investments this year already really what we always called investments related to our strategy that we want to achieve a level of end-to-end processes which should help us to keep fte development stable in the future even adding additional business on our balance sheet This is a very clear goal. this is a very clear goal Of course, putting aside that we will have roughly 10,000 employees more after the acquisition of Poland. Of course, putting aside that we will have roughly 10,000 employees more after the acquisition of Poland. of course putting aside that we will have roughly 10,000 employees more after the acquisition of poland

Speaker 4: Let me take up your question, which is a very interesting one. Let me say at the start that some of the details I would kindly ask you to take offline with Thomas because of course we could talk about overall interest rate strategy for at least an hour or so. Let me state a few of the most important matters. I think what is helping us at this very point in time, and that's why, for example, Slovakia is outperforming so much, Czech Republic to a part as well, is that we have refixations in durations which are now upward pricing. Mortgages in Slovakia, for example, have a typical fixation period of five years, right? We are now still fixing substantially upwards, and in the same moment, deposits are coming down. Let me take up your question, which is a very interesting one. let me take up your question which is a very interesting one Let me say at the start that some of the details I would kindly ask you to take offline with Thomas because of course we could talk about overall interest rate strategy for at least an hour or so. let me say at the start that some of the details i would kindly ask you to take offline with thomas because of course we could talk about overall interest rate strategy for at least an hour or so Let me state a few of the most important matters. let me state a few of the most important matters I think what is helping us at this very point in time, and that's why, for example, Slovakia is outperforming so much, Czech Republic to a part as well, is that we have refixations in durations which are now upward pricing. i think what is helping us at this very point in time and that's why for example slovakia is outperforming so much czech republic to a part as well is that we have refixations in durations which are now upward pricing Mortgages in Slovakia, for example, have a typical fixation period of five years, right? mortgages in slovakia for example have a typical fixation period of five years right We are now still fixing substantially upwards, and in the same moment, deposits are coming down. we are now still fixing substantially upwards and in the same moment deposits are coming down That's why a country, a Euro country like Slovakia, is so well performing apart from their excellent new production. That's one effect. The other one, if you look at the details of the NII results of the last couple of quarters, you see that Austria, typically where we have the ALM investments, where we have been booking, of course, also kind of investments going against the extensivities of the Austrian/Euro sensitivity for downward pressure, have been gaining substantially. These are big bond investments, which are in amortized costs, but of course are benefiting from the high investment yields, which leads me to your third point, and that's the steeper curve. Now look, I mean, this is on the trading book. That's why a country, a Euro country like Slovakia, is so well performing apart from their excellent new production. that's why a country a euro country like slovakia is so well performing apart from their excellent new production That's one effect. that's one effect The other one, if you look at the details of the NII results of the last couple of quarters, you see that Austria, typically where we have the ALM investments, where we have been booking, of course, also kind of investments going against the extensivities of the Austrian/Euro sensitivity for downward pressure, have been gaining substantially. the other one if you look at the details of the nii results of the last couple of quarters you see that austria typically where we have the alm investments where we have been booking of course also kind of investments going against the extensivities of the austrian/euro sensitivity for downward pressure have been gaining substantially These are big bond investments, which are in amortized costs, but of course are benefiting from the high investment yields, which leads me to your third point, and that's the steeper curve. these are big bond investments which are in amortized costs but of course are benefiting from the high investment yields which leads me to your third point and that's the steeper curve Now look, I mean, this is on the trading book. now look i mean this is on the trading book Having been a trader myself in the past, it's not a trading book where we are reacting on a day or a weekly basis, but of course we are very closely looking into the shapes of the yield curves. Of course, sometimes you get it better, sometimes not as good. I think the last 18, 24 months we were anticipating the shape of the yield curve and the spots in the curve where we thought the duration is the best, very well. Currently we have a duration on the overall investment book for roundabout four and a half years, a little bit different from country to country, but overall the yield has of course been shifting upwards. For those who know us for a long time, the investment book has been coming down substantially for many, many years and now has been going further up. Having been a trader myself in the past, it's not a trading book where we are reacting on a day or a weekly basis, but of course we are very closely looking into the shapes of the yield curves. having been a trader myself in the past it's not a trading book where we are reacting on a day or a weekly basis but of course we are very closely looking into the shapes of the yield curves Of course, sometimes you get it better, sometimes not as good. of course sometimes you get it better sometimes not as good I think the last 18, 24 months we were anticipating the shape of the yield curve and the spots in the curve where we thought the duration is the best, very well. i think the last 18 24 months we were anticipating the shape of the yield curve and the spots in the curve where we thought the duration is the best very well Currently we have a duration on the overall investment book for roundabout four and a half years, a little bit different from country to country, but overall the yield has of course been shifting upwards. currently we have a duration on the overall investment book for roundabout four and a half years a little bit different from country to country but overall the yield has of course been shifting upwards For those who know us for a long time, the investment book has been coming down substantially for many, many years and now has been going further up. for those who know us for a long time the investment book has been coming down substantially for many many years and now has been going further up For Thomas, I think five years, right? Five years upward trending. On page 43 of the presentation, you find a very good description of how the allocation looks like in terms of geographies as well as, so to say, accounting logics. For Thomas, I think five years, right? for thomas i think five years right Five years upward trending. five years upward trending On page 43 of the presentation, you find a very good description of how the allocation looks like in terms of geographies as well as, so to say, accounting logics. on page 43 of the presentation you find a very good description of how the allocation looks like in terms of geographies as well as so to say accounting logics

Speaker 7: Can I just, just a very brief follow-up if you don't mind? I suppose that what I'm just trying to figure out is that still a couple of hundred basis points or more in terms of the refixations that we will see over the next few years, or I mean, some quantum would be super beneficial. Can I just, just a very brief follow-up if you don't mind? can i just just a very brief follow-up if you don't mind I suppose that what I'm just trying to figure out is that still a couple of hundred basis points or more in terms of the refixations that we will see over the next few years, or I mean, some quantum would be super beneficial. i suppose that what i'm just trying to figure out is that still a couple of hundred basis points or more in terms of the refixations that we will see over the next few years or i mean some quantum would be super beneficial

Speaker 4: What I can say from top of my head, in Slovakia, for example, since I was talking about Slovakia, we have another two years to go roughly in terms of positive refixations. Austria is different, as you know, because there is a different mix between variable and fixed loans on the Austrian RBA. It's more fixed on the Sparkassen. It's more variable. That's why we always have a bigger sensitivity there. In terms of absolute numbers, I kindly ask Thomas to follow up with you to give you the breakdown of volumes, country by country. It's no problem. We have all of that. What I can say from top of my head, in Slovakia, for example, since I was talking about Slovakia, we have another two years to go roughly in terms of positive refixations. what i can say from top of my head in slovakia for example since i was talking about slovakia we have another two years to go roughly in terms of positive refixations Austria is different, as you know, because there is a different mix between variable and fixed loans on the Austrian RBA. austria is different as you know because there is a different mix between variable and fixed loans on the austrian rba It's more fixed on the Sparkassen. it's more fixed on the sparkassen It's more variable. it's more variable That's why we always have a bigger sensitivity there. that's why we always have a bigger sensitivity there In terms of absolute numbers, I kindly ask Thomas to follow up with you to give you the breakdown of volumes, country by country. in terms of absolute numbers i kindly ask thomas to follow up with you to give you the breakdown of volumes country by country It's no problem. it's no problem We have all of that. we have all of that

Speaker 7: Okay, thank you so much. Okay, thank you so much. okay thank you so much

Speaker 4: Welcome. Welcome. welcome

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Robert Brzoza from PKO Securities. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Robert Brzoza from PKO Securities. the next question comes from robert brzoza from pko securities Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 12: Okay. Hello everyone. Thanks for taking up my question. I want to revisit the adjusted profit guidance for 2026 to understand, to see if I got it correctly. Am I right that you see this in adjusted terms at around EUR 4 billion level? If you could provide sort of a rough bridge between the adjusted and reported, should we assume that the potential IFRS 9, EUR 300 million, would be included in that bridge plus the potential EUR 100 million-EUR 200 million additional reorganization and post-acquisition costs? That's on adjusted versus reported 2026 outlook. Related to that, can you reiterate post-acquisition Return on Tangible Equity guidance? Is this guidance based on the adjusted or reported figure? Thank you. Okay. okay Hello everyone. hello everyone Thanks for taking up my question. thanks for taking up my question I want to revisit the adjusted profit guidance for 2026 to understand, to see if I got it correctly. i want to revisit the adjusted profit guidance for 2026 to understand to see if i got it correctly Am I right that you see this in adjusted terms at around EUR 4 billion level? am i right that you see this in adjusted terms at around eur 4 billion level If you could provide sort of a rough bridge between the adjusted and reported, should we assume that the potential IFRS 9, EUR 300 million, would be included in that bridge plus the potential EUR 100 million- EUR 200 million additional reorganization and post-acquisition costs? if you could provide sort of a rough bridge between the adjusted and reported should we assume that the potential ifrs 9 eur 300 million would be included in that bridge plus the potential eur 100 million- eur 200 million additional reorganization and post-acquisition costs That's on adjusted versus reported 2026 outlook. that's on adjusted versus reported 2026 outlook Related to that, can you reiterate post-acquisition Return on Tangible Equity guidance? related to that can you reiterate post-acquisition return on tangible equity guidance Is this guidance based on the adjusted or reported figure? is this guidance based on the adjusted or reported figure Thank you. thank you

Speaker 4: Okay. Thanks very much. Again, clarifying what Peter and myself said, and also Alexandra was perfectly explaining the IFRS 3 and IFRS 9 effects and so on. First of all, we don't talk about a guidance here, to be very precise. We talk about our ambition levels. Once we have finalized the closing successfully, certainly when we talk to the market, to you again, end of February, we will translate everything into a real guidance. Just to be precise here, we are always talking about the difference between adjusted and reported. You are perfectly right in your description when we talk about the ballpark EUR 200 million integration costs and the estimated EUR 300 million of the effects, which are long-term, long P&L neutral that Alexandra and Peter explained. We are looking at a reported matter for 2026. Okay. okay Thanks very much. thanks very much Again, clarifying what Peter and myself said, and also Alexandra was perfectly explaining the IFRS 3 and IFRS 9 effects and so on. again clarifying what peter and myself said and also alexandra was perfectly explaining the ifrs 3 and ifrs 9 effects and so on First of all, we don't talk about a guidance here, to be very precise. first of all we don't talk about a guidance here to be very precise We talk about our ambition levels. we talk about our ambition levels Once we have finalized the closing successfully, certainly when we talk to the market, to you again, end of February, we will translate everything into a real guidance. once we have finalized the closing successfully certainly when we talk to the market to you again end of february we will translate everything into a real guidance Just to be precise here, we are always talking about the difference between adjusted and reported. just to be precise here we are always talking about the difference between adjusted and reported You are perfectly right in your description when we talk about the ballpark EUR 200 million integration costs and the estimated EUR 300 million of the effects, which are long-term, long P&L neutral that Alexandra and Peter explained. you are perfectly right in your description when we talk about the ballpark eur 200 million integration costs and the estimated eur 300 million of the effects which are long-term long p&l neutral that alexandra and peter explained We are looking at a reported matter for 2026. we are looking at a reported matter for 2026 Again, guidance and more detailed insights, we will then be providing with the hopefully end of February reporting for the full year 2025. Again, guidance and more detailed insights, we will then be providing with the hopefully end of February reporting for the full year 2025. again guidance and more detailed insights we will then be providing with the hopefully end of february reporting for the full year 2025

Speaker 12: Right. The post-acquisition ROI, I assume that would also be highlighted in February, correct? Right. right The post-acquisition ROI, I assume that would also be highlighted in February, correct? the post-acquisition roi i assume that would also be highlighted in february correct

Speaker 4: 19% unchanged. Absolutely correct. 19% unchanged. 19% unchanged Absolutely correct. absolutely correct

Speaker 9: Unreported. Unreported. unreported

Speaker 4: Unreported, unreported basis. Unreported, unreported basis. unreported unreported basis

Speaker 12: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: We have a follow-up question from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. Please go ahead. We have a follow-up question from Riccardo Rovere from Mediobanca. we have a follow-up question from riccardo rovere from mediobanca Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 6: Yeah. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for that. When it comes to the EUR 462 million of overlays and FLIs, Alexandra, is it possible to have a split between the two, how much is the overlays? And could the overlays be used against the EUR 300 million in the two spectrum performing loans in Poland? The other question I have is, how do you think about the fiscal boost from the debt-to-break relaxation in Germany? Do you see any potential positives to lower in Austria and in C? Do you have any idea how this could eventually play out? Thanks. Yeah. yeah Thanks. thanks Thanks. thanks Thanks for that. thanks for that When it comes to the EUR 462 million of overlays and FLIs, Alexandra, is it possible to have a split between the two, how much is the overlays? when it comes to the eur 462 million of overlays and flis alexandra is it possible to have a split between the two how much is the overlays and And could the overlays be used against the EUR 300 million in the two spectrum performing loans in Poland? and could the overlays be used against the eur 300 million in the two spectrum performing loans in poland The other question I have is, how do you think about the fiscal boost from the debt-to-break relaxation in Germany? the other question i have is how do you think about the fiscal boost from the debt-to-break relaxation in germany Do you see any potential positives to lower in Austria and in C? do you see any potential positives to lower in austria and in c Do you have any idea how this could eventually play out? do you have any idea how this could eventually play out Thanks. thanks

Speaker 9: Okay. The breakdown is of Q3. We are talking about 462 of stock. There are 323 FLI, 122 overlays, cyclicals, and some minor other overlays. This is the breakdown. We expect, but this is really only an expectation, in case we can release, or can and have to, it's both, EUR 70 million released until end of 2025. This would be a split of the EUR 70 million between FLI and cyclical overlays. To your question, if we can use going forward for 2026, this year, this against this ECL day one booking, we cannot, yeah? These are two completely different concepts. Of course, a release is always a release. If you add provisions, we cannot net it in the sense of a methodological netting. This is not possible. Okay. okay The breakdown is of Q3. the breakdown is of q3 We are talking about 462 of stock. we are talking about 462 of stock There are 323 FLI, 122 overlays, cyclicals, and some minor other overlays. there are 323 fli 122 overlays cyclicals and some minor other overlays This is the breakdown. this is the breakdown We expect, but this is really only an expectation, in case we can release, or can and have to, it's both, EUR 70 million released until end of 2025. we expect but this is really only an expectation in case we can release or can and have to it's both eur 70 million released until end of 2025 This would be a split of the EUR 70 million between FLI and cyclical overlays. this would be a split of the eur 70 million between fli and cyclical overlays To your question, if we can use going forward for 2026, this year, this against this ECL day one booking, we cannot, yeah? to your question if we can use going forward for 2026 this year this against this ecl day one booking we cannot yeah These are two completely different concepts. these are two completely different concepts Of course, a release is always a release. of course a release is always a release If you add provisions, we cannot net it in the sense of a methodological netting. if you add provisions we cannot net it in the sense of a methodological netting This is not possible. this is not possible

Speaker 14: If I may take the question about Germany, to be clear, we expected a positive impact even a little bit earlier, but it's taking longer due to different reasons. Let me share with you, I had a discussion with the CEO of a construction company, one of our bigger clients, and he's doing roughly 50% of his turnover in Germany. They are building a street in Romania at the moment in Bucharest, and they are able to build a street for 30 km in one shot. In Germany, it's a different frame and a different scheme how things are operated. There you have to tender every 5 km. I don't want to judge it. It could make very much sense how they do it in Germany, but it just takes longer. If I may take the question about Germany, to be clear, we expected a positive impact even a little bit earlier, but it's taking longer due to different reasons. if i may take the question about germany to be clear we expected a positive impact even a little bit earlier but it's taking longer due to different reasons Let me share with you, I had a discussion with the CEO of a construction company, one of our bigger clients, and he's doing roughly 50% of his turnover in Germany. let me share with you i had a discussion with the ceo of a construction company one of our bigger clients and he's doing roughly 50% of his turnover in germany They are building a street in Romania at the moment in Bucharest, and they are able to build a street for 30 km in one shot. they are building a street in romania at the moment in bucharest and they are able to build a street for 30 km in one shot In Germany, it's a different frame and a different scheme how things are operated. in germany it's a different frame and a different scheme how things are operated There you have to tender every 5 km. there you have to tender every 5 km I don't want to judge it. i don't want to judge it It could make very much sense how they do it in Germany, but it just takes longer. it could make very much sense how they do it in germany but it just takes longer On the other hand, it should be much more sustainable because to spend this EUR 500 billion, it will take some time. There should be a positive support for economic development. Yes, of course, we're expecting positive impact in countries like Poland, but also Czech Republic, maybe Slovakia. This is something we expect for 2026. I personally expected it already the second half of 2025. You see a slight increase in the sentiment, in the economic sentiment in Germany, but it's so far not the super bazooka booster as it was announced at the beginning. On the other hand, it should be much more sustainable because to spend this EUR 500 billion, it will take some time. on the other hand it should be much more sustainable because to spend this eur 500 billion it will take some time There should be a positive support for economic development. there should be a positive support for economic development Yes, of course, we're expecting positive impact in countries like Poland, but also Czech Republic, maybe Slovakia. yes of course we're expecting positive impact in countries like poland but also czech republic maybe slovakia This is something we expect for 2026. this is something we expect for 2026 I personally expected it already the second half of 2025. i personally expected it already the second half of 2025 You see a slight increase in the sentiment, in the economic sentiment in Germany, but it's so far not the super bazooka booster as it was announced at the beginning. you see a slight increase in the sentiment in the economic sentiment in germany but it's so far not the super bazooka booster as it was announced at the beginning

Speaker 6: Peter, if I understand you correctly, you expect to see something in 2026 on the back of that. Peter, if I understand you correctly, you expect to see something in 2026 on the back of that. peter if i understand you correctly you expect to see something in 2026 on the back of that

Speaker 14: Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. yes exactly

Speaker 6: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 10: Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Peter Bosek for any closing remarks. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. ladies and gentlemen that was the last question I would now like to turn the conference back over to Peter Bosek for any closing remarks. i would now like to turn the conference back over to peter bosek for any closing remarks

Speaker 14: Thank you to all of you. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you for your questions. Stefan and I are very much looking forward to see some of you, at least in person, next week during our roadshow. Let me tell you that we will come up with full year results 2025 on the 26th of February 2026. Very much looking forward to it. Thank you. Thank you to all of you. thank you to all of you Thank you for listening to us. thank you for listening to us Thank you for your questions. thank you for your questions Stefan and I are very much looking forward to see some of you, at least in person, next week during our roadshow. stefan and i are very much looking forward to see some of you at least in person next week during our roadshow Let me tell you that we will come up with full year results 2025 on the 26th of February 2026. let me tell you that we will come up with full year results 2025 on the 26th of february 2026 Very much looking forward to it. very much looking forward to it Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Coruscal, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. ladies and gentlemen the conference is now over Thank you for choosing Coruscal, and thank you for participating in the conference. thank you for choosing coruscal and thank you for participating in the conference You may now disconnect your lines. you may now disconnect your lines Goodbye. goodbye