Multitude’s growth in Q3 was slower than we had expected, but profit was largely in line with our estimates, driven by very good growth in fee income and a continued positive trend in impairment losses. The guidance was reiterated, which we believe doesn’t require a very strong finish for the year. We didn’t hear yet about any strategy updates or new financial targets, but we believe we will be more informed after the Capital Markets Day held this afternoon (registration here).

Growth below our expectations

Multitude’s Q3 total net operating income (NOI) was flat at 52.3 MEUR, which came in below our expectations (estimate 55.8 MEUR). At the Group level, the largest income stream, net interest income, decreased by 12% in total, which also explained the difference from our estimate. The decrease in net interest income was driven by lowering interest rates and the exclusion of income from some divested entities. The loan volumes didn’t decrease as the loans to customers and debt investments grew in total to 880 MEUR (Q2’25: 852 MEUR). The decreasing net interest income was nicely offset by net fee and commission income (4.0 MEUR), which was clearly above our expectations.

On a segment level, Consumer Banking continued to decline, as expected. SME Banking net interest income (no fee income here) grew at a single digit pace. Wholesale Banking more than doubled its net operating income, as expected.

Once again, a good performance in impairment losses

Multitude’s Q3 earnings before taxes (EBT) was 7.0 MEUR (Q3’24: 6.2 MEUR), which was slightly below our expectations (7.3 MEUR). The profit growth continued nevertheless, which was a good performance taking into account the flat net operating income. The profit improvement was driven by growth in fee and commission income and lower impairment losses (19.0 MEUR vs. Q3’24 21.5 MEUR). Thus, the declining trend in impairment losses we saw in H1 continued (we estimated modest growth). Operating expenses were 26.2 MEUR in total, which was marginally above our expectations. The EPS of the Group came in at EUR 0.25 per share, which was in line with our expectations. 

At the business unit level, EBT decreased in the largest segment, Consumer Banking (6.8 MEUR vs. Q3’24: 8.5 MEUR). In the smaller segments, we saw improvements, as was expected based on the company’s business level targets for the year. SME Banking’s EBT was still in the red and came in at -1.2 MEUR (Q3’24: -2.7 MEUR). Wholesale Banking saw a bigger improvement, with EBT at 1.4 MEUR (Q3’24: 0.4  MEUR).

Guidance reiterated

Multitude reiterated its guidance, which expects net profit to be 24-26 MEUR. Our estimate before the Q3 report exceeded the guidance range slightly at 26.7 MEUR. Based on Q3 performance, we see minor downward pressure on our estimates, yet the guidance range still seems somewhat cautious. At least, we find the upper end of the range to be clearly more likely than the lower end. For the company to reach the upper end of the guidance range, it would need to make a net profit of 5.8 MEUR in Q4’25, which would already be a clear decline from Q4’24 (7.5 MEUR). However, it’s good to note that the comparison period was very strong and the negative trend in net interest income will likely still continue in coming quarters.

Multitude didn’t publish any new financial targets yet, and the company still expects the 2026 net profit to be 30 MEUR. Multitude will host a Capital Markets Day (CMD) this afternoon (registration can be found here), and we expect to hear more about future goals and business drivers then.