Multitude Aktie

Good morning from Helsinki, Finland, and welcome to Multitude Group's Earnings Call for the first 6 months ended 2026. My name is Adam Tönning, Head of IR and Treasury, and I'll be your host today. Today's agenda, Multitude CEO, Antti Kumpulainen, will walk you through the period's results, which will be followed by a financial review by our CFO, Bernd Egger. Following the presentations, we will open up for questions over voice and chat.

Antti, please go ahead.

Thank you, Adam. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. My name is Antti Kumpulainen, CEO of Multitude Group. During today's call, our CFO, Bernd Egger, and I will walk you through Multitude's H1 2026 results. The first half reflects continued disciplined execution of our strategy. We are seeing stronger diversification of our revenue streams, further improvement in asset quality and a clear acceleration in profitability from the first to the second quarter.

Let me first briefly recap who we are and where we are heading. Multitude is a pan-European FinTech operating with one single EU-wide banking license and serving customers across Europe. We operate 3 business units on one shared growth platform, serving consumers, SMEs and institutional customers. The company was founded in Finland in 2005 and has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Prime Standard since 2015. In 2025, we generated EUR 257 million in revenue and EUR 26.6 million in net profit. We also continue to maintain our dividend ambition of distributing between 25% and 50% of annual net profit. So this is a business with more than 2 decades of operating history as established regulated platform and significant opportunities for profitable growth ahead.

Today, there are 6 key takeaways we would like to highlight. First, H1 net profit amounted to EUR 13.1 million. Importantly, profitability accelerated clearly during the second quarter, in line with the expected phasing of profitability through 2026. Second, asset quality continued to improve. Impairment losses decreased by 17.7% year-on-year to EUR 34.9 million, while our loan and investment portfolio continued to grow. Third, fee and commission income more than doubled to EUR 12.6 million compared with EUR 5.3 million in H1 last year. This demonstrates continued progress in diversifying our revenue base and building recurring fee income streams.

Fourthly, we completed the acquisition of Sortter. The transaction supports our revenue diversification strategy and adds complementary capital-light fee income business to the group. Fifth, our strategic investments continue to perform strongly with our share of results from associates doubling to EUR 2 million from EUR 1 million last year. And sixth, we confirm our EUR 30 million net profit guidance for 2026 together with the outlook of 20% annual net profit growth in years 2027 and '28.

Turning to the group highlights for first half of the year. Revenue was almost EUR 127 million. The development reflects deliberate changes in product offering and portfolio composition and the corresponding lower interest income, partly offset by very strong growth in fee income. Fee and commission income increased by over EUR 7 million year-on-year to EUR 12.6 million, driven mainly by Consumer Banking and now also including the contribution from Sortter since the consolidation date.

Sortter will continue operating as an independent company under the current management who have demonstrated their ability to build, run and scale the business extremely well. Sortter is a pure digital financial platform and a market leader in Finland with more than 30 banking and financing partners on one side of the platform, offering consumers and SMEs financial solutions and on the other side of the platform, over 120,000 credit applications made last quarter only. Now, it's your time to make your own evaluation about Sortter business and its impact for Multitude's strategic value as the Sortter full year run rate for revenue is EUR 25 million and profit of EUR 5 million with a 50% growth.

During the first half, our asset quality also continued to strengthen. Impairment losses decreased by 17.7% to EUR 34.9 million. Net loans and investments increased by 15% year-on-year to EUR 980 million demonstrating continued strong demand across our businesses. Net profit for the first half was EUR 13.1 million. This is in line with our expectations and reflects the profitability phasing we have communicated with a clear step-up in the second quarter. Going forward, our focus remains unchanged, accelerate profitable and scalable growth through organic execution, partnerships and selective M&A, continue to diversify revenues through recurring fee income and maintain high asset quality as we go forward.

Consumer Banking. This is our largest and closest business unit. The first half reflects continued portfolio optimization, improving asset quality and very strong progress in fee income expansion. Interest income and profitability were impacted by deliberate changes in portfolio composition and product offering, in line with the asset quality initiatives we have been implementing. At the same time, fee income increased significantly to EUR 11.3 million compared with EUR 4.3 million in H1 last year, now also including the Sortter contribution from the consolidation date in late May this year.

The portfolio continued to grow by 6.2% year-on-year and is now at EUR 537 million, while impairment decreased by more than 20%. That's a great result. This is exactly the direction we want to see, continued growth together with a stronger risk profile. Going forward, our focus remains on diversifying revenues, increasing recurring income streams, disciplined growth through organic execution, partnerships and again, selective M&As and further improvements in profitability, scalability through cost discipline, asset quality and automation.

In SME Banking, the key focus remains execution, efficiency and automation on our path toward profitable growth. We do recognize that the turnaround in SME Banking has taken longer than we originally expected, and we have made changes to get there faster. We can already see the growth momentum in the portfolio. Net loans and investments increased by 15.5% year-on-year to EUR 171 million, and the secured lending now represents 32% of total portfolio. Revenue increased slightly year-on-year, while the contribution from recently originated loans is expected to materialize progressively over time as the portfolio matures.

Profitability in the first half reflects a temporary investment phase supporting future growth, including organizational transformation, product development and technology investments. Importantly, while the absolute level of impairments increased driven by portfolio growth, the impairment ratio remained broadly stable. We can already see that these actions and results will push us to sustainable profitability and growth. We are currently close to a point of a breakeven, and we trust to deliver for a full year of 2027 a solid positive EBT. The transformation is happening already, and we can already see it.

Wholesale Banking. Yes, Wholesale Banking continued its very strong growth trajectory during the first half. Net loans and investments increased by 37% year-on-year to EUR 271 million, supported by strong execution across the secured debt deal pipeline. Revenue increased by almost 65% to EUR 15.7 million, while profit before tax increased to EUR 3.5 million from EUR 400,000 in H1 last year. That's a big jump. So profitability growth continued to significantly outperform revenue growth. We are also building more scalable origination capabilities through automation and faster credit decisioning in secured debt, while Payment Solutions continues to onboard new customers.

Going forward, the focus remains on growing the secured debt portfolio, expanding the Payment Solutions customer base and increasing cross-selling opportunities. Our ambition for Wholesale Banking remains very clear, and we continue to see substantial long-term growth and profit potential in this business unit.

With that, I will now hand over to our CFO, Bernd Egger, who will guide you through the H1 financials and of course, the underlying dynamics in more detail.

Thank you very much, Antti. Welcome, everybody. Good morning from pretty cool Helsinki, Finland. Let me walk you through the H1 results. The key messages on H1 are essentially threefold. First, and this is my personal favorite, I repeat it all the time, but I think it's really from a strategic perspective, really important. We are succeeding in diversifying our revenue composition. Fee income has meanwhile become a real meaningful contributor. Second, credit losses improved materially again compared with last year. And third, we see a clear net profit step-up in Q2, especially from Q1 to Q2, almost doubling net profit, well on track for the guidance.

Let us go to the details and start with revenue. Interest income, EUR 114.3 million in H1 '26 compared to EUR 128 million last year, a decrease of around about 10%. But as pointed out, this reflects the actively driven change in portfolio composition and product offering in Consumer Banking. So exiting short-term nonrecurring business, focusing on recurring sustainable business. That is what the game is about. This is consistent with our group-wide focus on higher quality and sustainable risk-adjusted returns. By the way, adjusting for the impact of exiting noncore businesses and for the impact of strategic product adjustments in those markets, like-for-like revenue would actually be above '25 level.

Fee and commission income, extremely strong development in H1 increased to EUR 12.6 million compared to EUR 5.3 million, so a plus of 136%. Key drivers are, partnership-driven fee income; secondly, services to external FinTech partners; number 3, payment business; and finally, the acquisition of Sortter reflected from the acquisition date and consolidation date 20th of May 2026. So 4 independent strong drivers for our fee income business. In addition to strong fee income development, net operating income was also supported by positive fair value effect of EUR 2.2 million. This is related to positive earn-out revaluation effects from sold noncore businesses.

So we're creating a lighter organization but still benefiting via earn-out from sold businesses. Also, other income increased significantly to EUR 2.6 million, which is a positive effect related to the Sortter acquisition. And finally, on another positive note, results from associate doubled to EUR 2 million in the first half of this year compared to EUR 1 million last year. As a result, net operating income was EUR 108 million, already very close to H1 '25 level despite the deliberate portfolio optimization.

Again, comparing like-for-like, net operating income would be significantly above '25 level. Let's take a short look. We will go into more detail on credit loss performance. This remains to be a key positive driver when it comes to net profit development. Impairment losses decreased to EUR 35 million, an improvement of EUR 7.5 million, almost 18%. We've touched upon this in the last couple of earnings calls. We can stay on the message of further improvements in the first half of '26, especially in the second quarter. This is extremely important for us because it was not only achieved on the basis of a stable portfolio, but achieved while net loans and investments continue to grow.

On cost, personnel expenses and general and admin expenses increased moderately, reflecting continued investment in our growth strategy. Selling and marketing expenses increased most visibly, some EUR 2.5 million; EUR 1.4 million out of that reflects the impact of the Sortter acquisition, which is money wisely spent, given Sortter's excellent net profit contribution. This all adds up to profit before tax of EUR 15.1 million compared to EUR 16.3 million in H1 2025. Net profit, EUR 13.1 million compared to EUR 14.2 million last year. Important to us in Q2 is the dynamics. Q2 showed a clear acceleration. Net operating income increased from EUR 51 million to EUR 56 million. Profit before tax from EUR 5.1 million to EUR 10 million, and net profit increased from EUR 4.4 million to EUR 8.7 million in the second quarter, so the factor doubling. And this dynamic is in the end, what gives us a lot of confidence for our full year net profit guidance.

Let me very briefly talk about assets. There are 2 main messages I want to bring across. Number one, net loans and investments. This is super important to understand as it is also going to be one of the profit drivers for the remainder of the year. All businesses are growing compared with end 2025. Net loans and investments increased by EUR 40 million from EUR 940 million to EUR 980 million compared to last year, plus EUR 70 million. Also important, diversification. It's not a business or growth that is driven by business unit. All business units portfolios are on a clear growth path.

Cash and cash equivalent, that's in the end, the engine. We hold EUR 420 million, a little bit more than EUR 420 million. Cash on the books. This represents sufficient resources to continue growing our business portfolios for the second half of this year and beyond. The increase for those who are more interested in details, intangible assets and goodwill is related to the investment in Sortter. Again, a fast-growing capital-light fee income-oriented FinTech platform, so exactly what we have been wanting to add to our portfolio for quite some time, very strong financial investment. In summary, the asset side shows continued customer portfolio growth, a strong liquidity position and the positive impact of the most recent acquisition.

Liability and equity. On liability and equity side, the key message remains unchanged. You're familiar with that. Customer deposits are the cornerstone of our funding model, complemented by capital market instruments and regulatory capital apparently on the level of the bank. Deposits up to EUR 1.2 billion. Equity increased to EUR 243 million compared to EUR 208 million end of year. This increase was mainly driven by the successful placement of a EUR 70 million perpetual bond instrument in the first half of '26. That, in turn, results in a very strong net equity ratio, including regulatory capital of 24% H1.

Let's take a little bit of a closer look to the respective businesses to the segments and talk about their performance. Consumer Banking remains highly profitable, while moving to a better revenue and risk profile and super important for us, it's back on growth track. SME Banking continues to invest into portfolio growth and scalability and Wholesale Banking continues to deliver strong growth and very convincing profitability dynamics. Talking about Consumer Banking in more detail. Interest income decreased by some 19% to EUR 82 million compared to last year. But as pointed out, this is a temporary reduction and it's intentional. It is driven by us exiting from noncore businesses, short-term businesses that we sold and by temporary effect related to product adjustments in a number of markets where we already see a positive turnaround trend. Like-for-like business is on a growth path. Q2 revenue in consumer exceed Q1 revenue by close to EUR 3 million.

Fee and commission income in the consumer business increased by almost 166% to EUR 11.3 million, supported by both organic contribution, organic fee income stream and the consolidation of Sortter. But it's important to understand whilst the Sortter contribution is meaningful with some EUR 2.9 million, also excluding Sortter, the organic growth of fee income would be equivalent to almost doubling the fee income in the consumer business, so really top performance.

Extremely positive impairment loss development decreased by more than 20%, EUR 36 million to less than EUR 29 million, so top performance. And all that results in profit before tax, EUR 15.1 million compared with EUR 17.4 million last year. And again, while H1 EBT is technically in a way, lower year-on-year, Q2 was meaningfully stronger than Q1, with Consumer Banking profit before tax increasing from EUR 5.2 million to EUR 9.8 million in Q2. So really extraordinary performance of the team.

In SME Banking, net loans to customers increased by 15.5% compared to last year, EUR 171 million. Interest income picking up a bit, 2.5% growth and net operating income also increasing by close to 2%. The revenue contribution from new volumes is expected to materialize progressively over time. Credit losses remained pretty much stable in its totality; profit before tax, still negative EUR 3.5 million. But as Antti pointed out, this reflects investment in growth in automation, in data and in risk innovation. And our focus and especially the SME team's management focus is to turn this business into profitability. And we are very well on track, pretty close to breakeven and super confident that for the full year '27, we will deliver positive results.

Wholesale Banking, very strong H1, a little bit repetitive, but I need to stay on the message. Interest income increased by 70% to EUR 14.5 million. Net operating income increased by 87% to almost EUR 10 million. And profit before tax, still it's an early-stage business, but already EUR 3.5 million positive in the first half of '26 compared to 0.4, a growth factor in terms of profitability, more than 7x -- actually more than 8x. Also compared with Q1, Wholesale Banking improved massively with profit before tax increasing by 1/3 from EUR 1.5 million to EUR 2 million in the second quarter only.

Asset quality, long-term trend continues. You see on this slide, impairment losses relative to our total portfolio, so net loans and investments. And we see a significant decrease, which is equivalent to an increase in asset quality. Group level credit losses down 17.7% year-on-year to EUR 35 million. This is a strong result, again, particularly because net loans and investments are increasing. So credit loss is down 18%, portfolios increasing 15%. What that means is we are not only growing the portfolio, we are doing so with a much, much better risk profile. Quarterly impairment loss is also improving from Q1 '26, 1.8% ratio down to 1.6%, so really top trend. And the key drivers you are familiar with that in case you joined recent earnings calls, they remain the same, enhancing scoring and underwriting, continuous model upgrades, stronger operational processes and, of course, a focus on better asset classes.

We can go a little bit more into detail, but I will speed up a bit on the credit loss development on a segment level. Key message is basically simple. This improvement in asset quality is visible in all businesses. In Consumer Banking, massive improvement, EUR 28.7 million compared to EUR 36 million, so 20.5% reduction. This is really massive. And this improvement continued during the second quarter. EUR 15 million credit losses in Q1, EUR 13.8 million in Q2. So again, really strong performance in the second quarter.

SME Banking, EUR 5.5 million compares to EUR 4.9 million. So technically, in absolute numbers, a slight increase, but that is in the end, the investment in the portfolio growth, quite significant portfolio growth already. And with a time lag, we now expect also revenues to come and in the end, help us turn around the business to profitability. So absolutely well on track and performance metrics in SME are absolutely stable. And in Wholesale Banking, very low impairment losses, EUR 0.7 million, 50% less than last year. In this business, apparently, this is a less granular business, movements are more driven by IFRS requirements and reserves. But the full -- and that's the key message here. The full portfolio remains collateralized. There are no unsecured exposures at all in the Wholesale Banking loan and investment book.

Funding and capital structure, as pointed out, our funding base remains diversified and scalable with customer deposits as the cornerstone. H1, we successfully issued this bond I made reference to. This is important as it strengthens equity. This is an IFRS equity instrument and is an excellent addition to deposits and the Tier 2 instrument that we issued on the level of the bank. So very solid funding and capitalization mix. An important aspect over the last couple of quarters is also that we managed to reduce funding cost -- weighted cost of debt funding decreased to 3.34% in Q2 from 3.4% and around 4% last year, so quite a significant decrease, and that apparently is also quite important when it comes to our net profit performance. In short, funding stable, diversified and cost effective. There's one final statement I would like to make as regards funding. We are evaluating the issuance of an additional Tier 1 instrument at the level of the bank in order to further strengthen the capital base and hence, the growth potential on the level of our regulated entity.

Finally, capital market guidance and indicative targets. For '26, we confirm our net profit guidance, EUR 30 million. H1 profit amounted to EUR 13.1 million and the sequential development from Q1 to Q2 supports our confidence. Q2 net profit, EUR 8.7 million. So again, almost doubling from EUR 4.4 million in Q1. So the direction is clearly positive. Expected drivers to get us to EUR 30 million net profit are, number one, growth dynamics in all businesses, including Consumer Banking. So we are in a positive growth trajectory mode already and expect that to continue for all businesses.

Secondly, significant improvement in CapitalBox financial result. So if we manage to reduce negative contribution and we will manage completely in the second half of the year, then this would have a 7-digit impact on net profit apparently, and we're super confident to achieve that. Sortter net profit contribution is one of the drivers. And finally, our excellent -- I really have to use this term as it actually is even better than we had budgeted, our excellent credit risk performance development. That means for '27 and '28, we, of course, stick to the guidance to improve -- increase our net profit levels by 20%, respectively.

I would like to go back to the key takeaways and conclude our presentation with these key takeaways that Antti used and referred to as an opener. Net profit, EUR 13.1 million, absolutely in line with the expected phasing throughout '26. So we're very optimistic to get to EUR 30 million. Asset quality better than ever. Impairment losses down 17.7%. Fee and commission income on an all-time high, more than doubled to EUR 12.6 million. Sortter acquisition supports revenue, but also profitability nicely. Strong strategic investment performance, doubling our associate contribution to EUR 2 million. And finally, as just pointed out, I would like to reiterate EUR 30 million guidance remains valid for this year.

With this, I hand back to you, Adam, and happy to move on.

Thank you. Yes. We will now continue with a question session, and we have the opportunity to ask questions over voice. We will shortly hear an instruction on how this works.

[Operator Instructions]

Very good. Meanwhile, we can start with some questions that we have received over text. Starting with questions from Harald Hof, mwb.

How has the customer sentiment and credit demand developed in Q2? And what are you seeing into H2? Is borrowing appetite picking up? And are there differences across markets? Antti?

Yes. We -- the result tells already that the portfolio is growing, which means that obviously, the demand is there. And this goes around all of our segments. We have to understand now that, for instance, when we work within Wholesale Banking business, there's also underlying assets in consumer and SME lending there as well. And we can see that there's need for our Wholesale Banking solutions. So competitors are also growing or the other players in the market. When we talk about consumer business, we definitely can see that portfolios are in good shape. Our risk profile is getting better and better all the time and consumers still need credits and good quick solutions, which we can provide. Same goes for the SMEs, 15% portfolio growth. There is demand.

Very good. And turning into a few questions from Roni at Inderes.

First of all, Sortter. How much did Sortter support fee income growth? And what was the organic development of fee income? And how much support to earnings?

Altogether with EUR 12.3 million fee income, essentially doubling from last year. Sortter contribution in H1, essentially the revenue generated after May 20 is EUR 2.9 million. And that means that even if we take out this EUR 2.9 million completely and compare organic development like-for-like, then this would get us to EUR 8.4 (sic) [9.4] million. So still almost doubling the contribution -- the fee contribution compared to the last year. So Sortter is super important for a number of reasons, even more strategically, I think. But from an organic growth development perspective, we are absolutely happy with almost doubling the fee income. And by the way, fee income is something that is quite meaningful already, both in the Wholesale Banking/Payment and in the consumer banking business.

Staying on Sortter a bit, a question from [ Pedri Blud ].

You said you acquired a majority stake in Sortter. How big exactly -- how big are the minority interest? And how will it impact the P&L in 2026? And I assume the Sortter revenues will go into fee income.

Yes, absolutely. Sortter income or revenue will be reflected in fee income. So with regard to the percentage, we currently hold 100%, so fully consolidated entity. And the contribution for the second half was the...

Yes. How much is it impacting in 2026?

Well, I mean, it's a little bit difficult to give a guidance for Sortter. The way we look at it is so that we see EUR 12.5 million revenue -- Sortter revenue in the first 6 months, a little bit more than EUR 2 million, EUR 2.3 million profit level. So if we assume that profit remains on the same level, then this means in the end, EUR 25 million run rate revenue and close to EUR 5 million profit, out of which between EUR 2 million and EUR 3 million, EUR 2.5 million would be reflected positively in our attitude -- results.

Yes. Thank you. Continuing with Roni's questions.

Any updates on the plans regarding Lea Bank? Have you managed to advance any common strategic initiatives?

And then we also have another question from a private investor on whether we have sold the portfolio to Lea Bank in Q2.

Yes. And this is -- I can start with this. So we are extremely happy with our investment in Lea Bank, and we see it as a strategic investment. It's also a really good financial investment for us. So we can see that the income from consolidated entities is obviously -- sorry, associated entities is coming quite much also from Lea Bank. So we are looking all the time what different options we have on strategic cooperation possibilities. We have to remember that these are 2 independent companies, Multitude and Lea, which are operating fully independently. Yes, we did sell our prime lending portfolios to Lea Bank since that's the business that Lea Bank is much more close to. And it makes more sense that they can operate -- continue operating in those portfolios, and we are then focusing more on our customer base that we already have. So yes, we sold a couple of portfolios in the Nordics to Lea Bank.

Indeed. Thank you.

We have a few questions on share price development in general and versus our vision of EUR 1 billion valuation 2028. How do you see the path forward to this target?

First of all, what I can say about the targets is obviously that our net profit guidance, we can confirm that EUR 30 million is where we really see that we are going this year, followed with 20%, '27 and '28. So until now, what we have guided during the last 5 years, actually 6, I believe, already, so we have kept. And we see that we are diversifying our business. We have much more fee revenue coming in. So we are expecting that to reflect, of course, in the valuation, which is then decided by you, our investors, in the market. I'm confident that we are really on the right path. We have to continue keeping our promises. We have done it so far. We are diversifying. We told you a few years ago, we will diversify. We have done it, and we will continue on that path.

Just one sentence, if I may ask you, for the first time, where more than 10% of revenues are contributed from fees. So this is no longer a tiny add-on. This is core of our strategy. And apparently, it could have a positive impact on valuation as well. I'm not giving any statements on how we look at it. But theoretically, one could assume that an increasing revenue stream that is not tied to risk income that's not tied to a capital-intensive business that is growing in the case of Sortter, 50% plus. Without Sortter, we're growing the fee income 50% plus. So I would at least see reasons why -- reasons to be optimistic about the value creation potential here.

A bit on the same topic, we have a question on how we look on buybacks over high dividends. And what is our reasoning there, Bernd, in comparing these 2 options?

Well, in the end, there are pros and cons for both. We did the buyback program a while ago. I think currently, focus should rather be on generating profits and distributing profits to holders of all equity and debt instruments, which means rather dividend than buyback. One of the reasons is the practical regulatory limitation that limits the ability to buy shares back quite massively. And on top of that, we have made a commitment to distribute 25% to 50% of net profit as dividend. We want to honor this commitment. And thirdly, we have ambitious growth plans and do not think that we would want to decrease equity base below that.

Yes. Continuing on to earn-out. How do we look on the earn-out timings for the rest of the year? How much are we still expecting in 2027?

Expectation means a little bit of an element of speculation here. I can take a look back, maybe shed a little bit more light on performance of those sold businesses and our contribution in '26. We have collected between EUR 1 million and EUR 1.2 million from earn-outs on a monthly basis. It is actually better than we expected. This also resulted in this EUR 2.2 million revaluation positive contribution. But economically, I think the positive impact not reflected in the P&L, but in cash is even stronger than this EUR 2.2 million, in fact, EUR 6-plus million. And yes, we are supporting the new owners of those businesses where we can and hope that they will continue performing well.

Thank you. A few questions from Julius at NuWays. First of all, the H1 net profit was EUR 13.1 million against the EUR 30 million full year guidance. So H2 mathematically needs EUR 17 million. Could you walk us through the main operational and one-off drivers for that step-up and potential one-off drivers?

Yes. First of all, mathematically, absolutely correct. So we have -- but I would like, again, to put it into perspective. So after Q1, there were some questions around net profit level back then, 14.7% or whatever percent of total EUR 30 million, so EUR 4.4 million out of EUR 30 million. Now, we are -- now, it's half time, and we have achieved 44%. So that's a very good starting point for the full year. We have a couple of drivers. Asset quality, much, much better than even expected. I'm super confident this will -- that this path will continue. The most important one is growth. We are on a growth path in all 3 businesses. That's much better. The growth dynamics are much better than compared to last year. We have an additional profit contributor with Sortter. So taking all that in combination. Other than that, we don't need one-offs in that sense, we should be -- at least I am and I'm speaking on behalf of Antti as well, we are very optimistic that we get that.

Absolutely.

Good. And a second question from Julius. What does it take to make SME Banking profitable?

What it takes is continue with the developments we have now seen. So I have to remind you that SME Banking is growing at the moment. We grew with 15% in the portfolio. We are really, really close to having a breakeven point already. And we have made a lot of investments during the second quarter, especially this year. So we have automated much more of quite much automated business line already. Lots of changes in the way we operate in SME Banking as well. And we can see now that these are bearing the fruit. So operational transformation, cost-to-income ratio has to go down. We have to keep the same good path in our credit losses, which we can see. The impairments are in good shape. And it's now about pushing a bit more on the gas pedal once we know that we can do it, and I believe we can do it now. So I'm seeing SME Banking as a positive sign going forward.

Good. Two questions related on the same theme. So the improvements in asset quality in consumer, we have now had a quite long run of significant improvements. Is there further room to improve still?

That's a question -- good question. I would rather speak about we can see a long-term trend already across all our business units across the whole company. And I can say that we see the trend continuing, as Bernd said, that we are extremely -- we see positively about this. For how long and how low does it go, it's impossible to say. But there is no reason to believe that it will change overnight now to something else. We have worked deliberately on this way that we make sure that whilst the portfolio grows, the credit losses are coming down even more aggressively. So the momentum is there. It has been there for a few years already. We see the trend. I see no reason that it wouldn't continue.

On the back of that question from Mark Luti. As the impairment losses have decreased significantly, how come that the profitability hasn't increased significantly as a result of that? Is it because the impairment losses decreased mainly because of a smaller loan book or rather than a better risk profile?

It goes actually hand-in-hand to a certain extent that we can see also that yield is a bit lower from -- in our loan book than it has been a few years ago. So this is a really natural decision that slight decrease in yield, getting much more better customers in that it also tells that the losses are coming down.

And I mean from -- to put it in a longer-term context, if I may, I would not necessarily agree that profit is not picking up. When we had EUR 20 million net profit 2 years ago, then we have issued a EUR 23 million guidance. We have elevated this -- lifted this guidance up to EUR 24.6 million. We've overachieved the higher end of this guidance. Now we're increasing -- or we are looking to achieve EUR 30 million, which would be all-time high, EUR 26.6 million was already all-time high net profitability. So this is one of the drivers, not the only one, luckily, but one of the drivers why we are on an all-time high level when it comes to net profit.

Another question from Julius. Cost-to-income ratio was 55% and 52% in Q1 and Q2, which means higher than last year. And this -- I understand this should be temporary, but what do you see as a normalized ratio levels here and also looking into versus our forward targets?

Yes. First of all, yes, we see a temporary development that should not necessarily be seen as conflicting with our long-term ambition. The long-term ambition is to go to this 40% level if you now exclude external factors, M&A transactions and all that. The target is 40% at the end of '28, and that remains valid. Important for us is net profitability first. So if we invest something that has a short-term negative impact on cost/income ratio, but a positive impact on profitability as technically the Sortter acquisition has, it's driving up cost/income ratio a little bit, is driving up net profit quite significantly. So profitability first. But from my perspective, this 40% target remains valid.

And one question from Frank Lehmann on Wholesale Banking.

How do you manage concentration risk regarding counterparties?

Well, that's quite traditional way to manage it. We have our counterparties are in multiple different jurisdictions. And we also make sure that we have a different type of counterparties. So different type in a sense that they come from a quite similar pool, but obviously, we make sure that we don't tap into the same markets as our own customers directly, for instance. This is important. And also geographical diversification, we make sure that loan-to-value levels are good and everything is really, really well secured. So from this perspective, we are in a really, really good position. Like Bernd already said, there is no unsecured receivables at all in our Wholesale Banking. Everything is secured from our side or to us, and we are confident that this book is of good quality.

Thank you. We will then take the final question for this FAQ session from [ Tulipas ].

Congratulations to the results. On the reduction in impairment losses, one, could you explain in layman terms, how the impairments are calculated?

And two, has the parameters changed over time, let's say, from a year ago to make it simpler?

Should I start -- thank you so much. Now, first of all, we are comparing like-for-like. So this is not the -- there are neither significant one-offs in these improvements. This is backed by substance. And also the relevant principles have not changed. So over the last couple of years, we have consistently applied IFRS 9 principles for all our portfolios. So this is completely like-for-like. How does it work? In the end, upon issuing a loan, the expected credit loss for 12 months needs to be reflected as a credit loss impairment. And should there be reasons to stage those loans into 2 or 3 to significantly increase the credit risk, default and so on and so forth, then probability of default, loss given default parameters dictate the level of impairment requirements. That remains true. Of course, collateral to be factored in for Wholesale Banking business. That's the logic in one sentence.

And then actually one final question. Could you say a word or 2 on how diversified our fee and commission income business is as of today?

Yes. I mean we have a different -- we have, for instance, partnerships from -- on consumer side. This is one big driver for us, coming from card business. Then we do have in Wholesale Banking Payment Solutions business, one driver where we are having payment service providers, electronic money institutions and other regulated entities bringing fee income. And then we also do have the entities we are serving on the divested services serviced entities. So those are quite -- 3 quite different fee income streams we are getting.

Thank you, Antti. That marks the end of our Q&A session. And I'm just going to borrow this. And I would like to thank everyone who has participated today. I would like to remind of our upcoming events during the fall and that our next earnings call will take place on the 12th of November. For any other questions, we still have a few that hasn't been answered. We will reach -- feel free to reach out directly to IR. And for those of you who have sent their contact details, we will reach out to you. Thank you. Bye.

Thank you.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Q1 2026 Earnings Call. My name is Adam Hansson-Tönning. I'm the Head of IR and Treasury of Multitude, and I'll be your host today. Today's presenters will be our CEO, Antti Kumpulainen; and CFO, Bernd Egger, who will walk you through our Q1 2026 results.

Following the presentation, we will open the line for a Q&A session. I'll now hand over to Antti to get us started. Antti, please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. My name is Antti Kumpulainen. I'm the CEO of Multitude Group. During today's call, our CFO, Bernd Egger, and I will walk you through Multitude's Q1 2026 results. The first quarter reflects disciplined execution of our long-term strategy, while profitability development is expected to be weighted toward the later part of the year, we continue to make strong progress on the strategic priorities that we have communicated to the market.

Today, there are five key takeaways we would like to highlight. First, group fee and commission income increased significantly by EUR 2.5 million year-on-year to EUR 4.9 million. This demonstrates our ability to generate recurring and resilient revenue streams.

Second, our share of results from associates increased strongly to EUR 1.1 million, reflecting the continued good performance of our strategic investments.

Third, asset quality continued to improve. Impairment losses decreased by 18.8% year-on-year to EUR 18 million. This is a continuation of the positive development we have seen for several years already.

And fourth, during the quarter, we successfully issued EUR 70 million of perpetual notes, strengthening the IFRS equity position of the group and supporting future growth.

And fifth, we confirm our EUR 30 million net profit guidance for 2026, together with the outlook of 20% annual net profit growth, both in 2027 and 2028.

Let me briefly recap who we are and where we are heading. Multitude is a pan-European FinTech operating with one single EU-wide banking license across 17 European countries. We operate three business units on one shared growth platform, serving consumer, SME and institutional customers.

The company was founded in Finland in 2005 and has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Prime Standard since year 2015. In 2025, we generated EUR 257 million in revenue and EUR 26.6 million in net profit.

And today, we employ around 700 people. We continue to maintain our dividend ambition of distributing between 25% to 50% of annual net profit. For financial year 2025, we have distributed a dividend of $0.55 per share to our investors, corresponding to a payout ratio of 44.2% of net profit.

So this is a business with 2 decades of operating history, an established regulated footprint and what we see as a long runway still ahead. Turning to the group highlights from the first quarter of '26. Revenue for the quarter was EUR 61.6 million. The development reflects changes in our product offering and portfolio composition, partly offset by the very strong growth in fee income.

Fee and commission income increased by more than 105% year-on-year to EUR 4.9 million, driven mainly by the Consumer segment. At the same time, impairment losses improved significantly, decreasing by 18.8% or EUR 4.2 million year-on-year.

Net loans and investments grew in total by 23.5%, demonstrating strong demand on the market. Net profit for the quarter was EUR 4.4 million. This performance is fully in line with the expected phasing of profitability development during 2026 where we expect stronger contribution during the later quarters of the year.

Going forward, we continue to focus on profitable and scalable growth through organic execution, partnerships and selected M&A opportunities while maintaining high asset quality.

Moving to our largest and oldest business unit, Consumer Banking. The first quarter reflects continued portfolio optimization together with strong progress in asset quality improvement. Interest income and profitability were impacted by changes in portfolio composition and product offering, which were implemented intentionally as part of our asset quality strategy.

At the same time, fee income increased significantly to EUR 4.3 million compared to EUR 1.9 million in Q1 last year. Asset quality strengthened further with impairments decreasing by over 21% year-on-year, supporting profitability. The portfolio continued to grow by 7.6% year-on-year.

Going forward, our focus remains on disciplined growth, increasing recurring income streams, partnerships, selective M&A opportunities and continued automation-driven scalability improvements.

In SME banking, the key focus remains execution, efficiency and automation on our path towards sustainable profitability. Net loans and investments increased by 19% year-on-year, with secured lending now representing 31% of the total portfolio.

Portfolio growth accelerated beyond full year '25 levels in the first quarter, while the revenue contribution from new business is expected to materialize progressively over time. Profitability development in the quarter reflects continued investments in growth and portfolio expansion together with higher provisioning levels.

Importantly, impairment ratios remained stable despite the rapid growth of the portfolio. Our focus for 2026 remains very clear, transitioning CapitalBox into sustainable profitability while continuing to improve scalability through automization, data, AI and risk innovations.

Wholesale Banking, our new business unit, continued its very strong growth trajectory during the first quarter. Net loans and investment increased significantly to EUR 258 million, supported by strong execution across the secured debt pipeline. Profitability development continued to outperform revenue growth with EBT growth exceeding 400% year-on-year.

That's amazing. At the same time, Payment Services continue to benefit from scalable infrastructure and increasing customer onboarding activity. The focus going forward remains on growing the secured portfolio and expanding the Payment Solutions customer base across the EEA region.

Our ambition for Wholesale Banking remains very clear, and we continue to see substantial term -- long-term growth potential in this business unit as well. Let me also briefly touch upon the acquisition of a majority stake in Sortter Oy, which we announced yesterday and why we see this as a very attractive strategic investment for Multitude.

Sortter is a fast-growing Finnish FinTech company focused on consumer and SME financing comparison services. And today, it's already one of the leading players in Finland within its segment.

In 2025, Sortter generated EUR 17.2 million in revenue and EUR 1.6 million in net profit, making this not only a strategic investment, but also an attractive financial investment for the group. For us, the strategic fit is very strong. We have already been a shareholder in Sortter since 2023.

And over that period, we have seen firsthand the quality of the management team, the scalability of the platform and the strong market positioning the company has built. Importantly, Sortter will continue to operate independently under its existing brand, platform model and management team. We believe this entrepreneurial setup has been one of the key success factors behind the company's strong development.

At the same time, Multitude brings significant expertise in digital consumer and SME finance, together with extensive operational experience across 17 European markets. We believe this creates a strong foundation to support Sortter in evaluating and potentially executing international expansion opportunities over time.

The transaction also supports our long-term strategy of diversifying group revenues through recurring fee income streams. We see significant long-term potential in the business and believe the combination creates value both strategically and financially for Multitude.

With that, I will now hand over to our CFO, Bernd Egger, who will guide you more closely through the Q1 financially and the underlying dynamics behind them. All yours, Bernd.

Many thanks, Antti. Welcome also from my side. Good morning from Helsinki, and I'm actually super happy that I can start with a positive message. I like this sort of story a lot, and we will certainly have the opportunity to talk about that. And going forward, we will also apparently include Sortter in our presentation.

Now let's talk about P&L in a little bit more detail. As always, I would like to focus on key messages. Key message number one, when it comes to revenue, when it comes to growth dynamics, revenue reflects the deliberate changes in the portfolio composition and product offering. This is especially true for the consumer business. It's not a new message. We have been explaining that over the last quarter as well. We are repositioning our offering in a number of markets.

We have sold some businesses in order to focus on recurring businesses. So this is absolutely intentional that we accept a short-term drop in revenue. Message number two, asset quality continued to improve significantly. Message number three, profitability is in line with the expected phasing of the year.

In fact, budgeting is an internal number, but nevertheless, I would like to also share that we are slightly above budgeted levels. Let's go into the details of our financial KPIs. Revenue, EUR 61.6 million compared to EUR 66.8 million Q1 last year. But in comparison to Q4, we again see an increase quarter-on-quarter in terms of revenue.

Interest income, EUR 56.7 million. That compares to EUR 64.4 million in 2025, decreased EUR 7.7 million, and that is essentially driven by the factors that I just explained.

Fee and commission income developed very strongly. We are super proud of that, increased to EUR 4.9 million compared to EUR 2.4 million in Q1 '25, an increase by EUR 2.5 million or 106%. Also on a very positive note, net fee and commission income increased even more from EUR 1.9 million to EUR 4.6 million last year to this year, up 140%.

Fair value and foreign exchange gains and losses contributed positive EUR 0.3 million in Q1 compared to negative EUR 0.7 million in Q1 '25. This includes also positive effects related to earn-out valuation from sold businesses.

And finally, the [ Pata ] profit share from investments in associates, Lea and Sortter increased to EUR 1.1 million, more than doubled from EUR 0.5 million in Q1 2025. This results in net operating income of EUR 51.2 million, slightly below last year's level.

Credit losses, Q1 '26 came in at EUR 18 million compared to EUR 22 million in Q1 '25, improvement EUR 4.2 million or 18.8%. Outstanding remarkable, we will look into that in more detail to understand -- so to help you understand the drivers behind that.

Personnel and G&A expenses increasing a little bit by some EUR 1.9 million, reflecting continued investments in growth in operational capabilities and scalability. Finally, all of that translates into profit before tax, EUR 5.1 million in Q1. Net profit EUR 4.4 million. So this is somewhat below the EUR 7.2 million, which we had in Q1 2025, which was an outstanding and extraordinary performance in Q1 2025.

So from that perspective, we are somewhat below last year's level. However, we are on track to EUR 30 million net profit guidance for the full year.

Let's very briefly talk about assets, super simple message when it comes to the main drivers behind the EUR 200 million increase in our total banking assets. One is portfolio growth, EUR 30 million, EUR 32 million portfolio from end of year. But -- and this is also very important when it comes to managing growth expectations.

The portfolios, total portfolios increased by more than EUR 180 million compared to Q1 2025. All of our three businesses increased their portfolios quite significantly. Second driver behind increase in assets is EUR 175 million additional cash. And for that, in turn, two drivers. One is deposit increase in order to support the business for the remainder of the year.

And number two, the successful issuing process of the perpetual bonds that we completed in Q1. That, in turn, is reflected in equity and liability. Apparently, deposits up to EUR 1.2 billion and equity ratio increased significantly. We now hold almost EUR 250 million in equity on the balance sheet.

And that in turn means that as a result, the balance sheet at the end of Q1 is characterized by significantly stronger liquidity position than in the past and stronger equity. And that, in the end, in addition, of course, to the human resources and technology is everything we need to grow the business going forward.

Let's briefly talk about the segment performance. Consumer Banking Ferratum revenue EUR 45.3 million, -- that is somewhat lower than last year. But again, I would like to reiterate, adjusting for businesses sold, adjusting for the temporary effect of reduction in revenue in some of those markets, which is an investment into future growth, we are actually back to growth mode.

So that is in combination with the fact that also portfolio already increased by almost EUR 40 million compared to last year, very positive note. And again, super important for our monetization strategy on top of the Sortter business that we just briefly touched upon fee income.

Fee income in the consumer business increased very strongly to EUR 4.3 million, up almost 130%. Credit losses, just a very quick look as we will go into this topic in a little bit more detail a little later. Nonetheless, I need to highlight that EUR 15 million. You will recall that we had levels of EUR 20 million, EUR 22 million, EUR 23 million over the last couple of years.

Portfolio is increasing. Credit losses are decreasing very significantly, supported also by a couple of hundred thousand from macroeconomic effects. So really, really top performance when it comes to credit loss management, underwriting portfolio management.

So really outstanding performance. Profit before tax, EUR 5.2 million. And again, EBT is lower than last year, but still the growth dynamic that we have from a portfolio perspective supports future growth, and we have a more diversified revenue mix and business is expected to benefit from both this improved revenue mix and top asset quality. Let's move on to SME. CapitalBox Revenue going up slightly to EUR 8.8 million compared to EUR 8.6 million last year, increased 2.8% portfolio increasing quite significantly to almost EUR 172 million.

Credit losses on the same level as last year, EUR 2.7 million. So that is important since a couple of years ago, we had issues with asset quality very well under control now. So both growth dynamics are there, need to be accelerated. Asset quality is good.

Operating expenses up by a little bit more than EUR 1 million. But again, that is something that we look at as an investment in future growth in automation and data and risk innovation.

Profit before tax, minus EUR 1.7 million. I don't want to repeat what Antti just said. The message is very clear. Our expectation and CapitalBox management expectation is to fully focus on turning portfolio growth into profitability.

Finally, Wholesale Banking, the success story continues. Wholesale delivered a quite strong or actually a very strong quarter performance. Revenue increased to EUR 7.5 million compared to EUR 4.5 million last year, Q1, up almost 70%. Portfolio increased 86%. So there is a lot of traction in this business. Net interest income more than doubled to EUR 3.8 million.

Credit losses remain on a low level, EUR 0.4 million. And all of that in combination with a slightly higher investment in operating expenses results into a profit before tax of EUR 1.5 million compared to EUR 2.3 million last year.

So I fully echo Antti's words here. This is an amazing development in Q1. Asset quality. This slide, I will not spend too much time on that. It's not really the exact number that is of relevance here, but it's the trend. And the trend is very clear. Most of you might be familiar with this slide.

Trend downward sloping means that credit losses over asset or portfolio size is dropping significantly. Asset quality is increasing significantly with an extraordinary low level of below 2% on a quarterly level. So this is really, in the end, the continuation of an excellent trend over the last couple of quarters.

Similar picture when it comes to credit loss development on the level of the three businesses. Consumer Banking down to EUR 15 million in terms of -- in relation to the portfolio size, all-time low, reflects enhanced underwriting and this strategy. So you need to see those two factors in connection. These are two sides of one on the same coin, accepting a drop in revenue in order to build up a portfolio that is more sticky that generates recurring revenues and that is also reflected by lower credit losses and higher asset quality.

So those two messages need to be read in conjunction. SME Banking, finally, EUR 2.7 million, slightly above last year, but again, adjusting for volume on an excellent level. Wholesale Banking, all exposures in Wholesale Banking are underpinned by collateral, and this is represented in very low credit loss levels.

In short, key message is asset quality continues to strengthen further. Funding structure, not too much to explain here. You're all familiar with our ambition to maintain a balanced funding mix. This still holds true. Focus number one is deposits. That helped us to reduce weighted average cost of funding quite significantly over the last couple of quarters down to 3.4%. That is important.

Second key message that is important is the successful placement of the EUR 70 million perpetual bond. This is IFRS equity, and that supports our ambition to grow throughout '26 and then also, of course, '27. And as additional information or an indication rather than former information, but nonetheless important, we believe in future growth, and this is why we are preparing the issuance of an additional Tier 1 instrument on the level of the bank during the second half of this year.

And what does it actually mean in terms of where we want to be and where we are heading for '26? Naturally, we confirm our net profit. We are on track. We absolutely believe that in terms of net profit with the factors that we have outlined, the portfolio growth, but also increased contribution from earn-out is not fully reflected in P&L, we are in a position to close the gap and get to EUR 30 million.

And also naturally, then as a consequence of that, the ambitions and plans and guidance metrics for '27 and beyond remain valid.

With that, Adam, I hand back over to you.

Thank you, Bernd. Thank you, Antti. We will now open the line for questions. But we will start with questions and then continue to written questions.

I believe our first question comes from Roni from Inderes.

Maybe first about the cost level, especially in SME banking. So does this represent a new higher recurring cost level? Or was there some one-off costs? And maybe how confident are you that the growth investments will materialize in the top line soon enough in order to reach profitability in '26?

If I start first on that. So yes, the operating expenses were slightly higher, but we are not seeing that, that trend would continue vice versa that we are now making lots of investments into turning around CapitalBox business, even further automization, use of AI, making sure that the cost will go down.

That is one of the priorities. But it's not only about cost saving here or being more effective on the cost side, we also need to grow the top line as well. But we cannot grow it widely. We have to make it really smartly so that we don't have the impairment losses following. So it's fine line where we have to operate.

But we have a clear plan with management of CapitalBox how to get this forward to the right pace. And we are on the right pace, but we will see the results later on this year.

Then about Consumer Banking as the interest income was partly burdened by regulatory interest rate caps. So can you comment on the outlook of possible other interest rate caps going forward in other countries?

At the moment, we do not see that there would be any significant interest rate caps imposed in any of our countries that would materially change our profile.

Then about Sortter. So have there been some business opportunities with Sortter that you haven't been able to pursue when you were a minority owner? Or is it continuing fully independently? And maybe what type of synergies are there on top of just equity sharing?

Thank you. First of all, like I said, we see that Sortter is an excellent financial investment and an excellent strategic investment. But it's extremely important to highlight that Sortter will continue with its own brand platform and own management. We do not want to start affecting that.

What we can bring on the table is more support from the group side from a financial perspective. We have a lot of international experience naturally. But the day-to-day work and strategic outlook is from Sortter management and Sortter is staying independent within Multitude Group.

Are you able to comment on the valuation of the deal, for example, in terms of revenue multiples?

Bernd, do you want to...

Compared to...

Ring valuation and pricing. Now in the end, it's a little bit of a moving target. We closed the transaction yesterday, but when it comes to finalizing, some remaining variable components that need to flow into the final calculation, purchase price allocation, all that will be done over the next couple of weeks. So this will be disclosed in H1.

We think apparently that the valuation is quite attractive for us. Otherwise, we would not have done it. And I would also like to put it a little bit into perspective about growth driving and why we think that this is a value creator.

We have disclosed a number of, I think, EUR 17.2 million revenue. But again, if you put that into the historic perspective, you're coming from -- they are coming from now. We are coming from EUR 8 million, EUR 10 million, EUR 17 million. So this is an absolute fantastic growth case and it's 1% in line with our fee generation strategy.

So from that perspective, we think that the valuation, and again, we will disclose details is absolutely attractive.

How does the outlook of Sortter look in '26 in terms of revenue and profit?

Well, I mean, Sortter is not part of -- or has not been part of the organization when we issued our guidance. So I'm a little bit -- or we are reluctant on behalf -- speaking on behalf of Antti as well to give -- make forward-looking statements. What I can say, though, is that there is a lot of growth momentum.

So I think we are also seeing -- if you take a closer look at the Wholesale Banking associate contribution from profit, you will also be able to calculate the profitability level is going up quite significantly. So we are very optimistic about future contribution, both in terms of top line and profit contribution.

Then one more question about the guidance. So did I understand correctly that you should have -- should be able to make the guidance totally organically. So it didn't include M&A, for example, like? And maybe what are the main factors that properly is weighted on H2?

Maybe to put the whole thing into perspective, we are at EUR 4.5 million now. We need to get to EUR 30 million. I think a key driver #1 is portfolio. This is why we wanted to really make sure that everybody understands that portfolio has increased very significantly, so EUR 180 million compared to last year. So this is driver number one.

Driver number two, cost, we have spoken a lot about efficiency gains that is not going to change. Then there are a couple of technical aspects. For instance, from sold businesses, this is super relevant for the consumer performance.

We've incurred EUR 3 million earn-out and IFRS logic dictates that only a fraction of that EUR 0.9 million was reflected in the P&L in Q1. Not promising anything, but should this earn-out level on a monthly basis remain constant, and this is going to be an upside -- when it comes to M&A, the logic was that we aim at achieving EUR 30 million without M&A.

Should M&A transaction help us or accelerating the path to getting there, then we naturally like such transactions. But we're not going to change the guidance at this stage.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Julius Neittamo from NuWays.

Congratulations on the Q1 results. So my first question is about the fee and commission income. So I understand that the share of the fee and commission income comes from divested entities for now your clients.

So I would like to understand how sticky is this relationship with these entities? How concentrated is the risk? And then secondly, how is the fee and commission income developing with completely new customers?

The fee income, yes, you're right that from divested companies, what you see on the consumer side, yes, partly from that is coming from there, but we also have partnerships bringing in -- especially in Poland, significant fee income. Also, when you look on the Wholesale Banking perspective, payment solutions are bringing in the fee income part fully from that side.

Stickiness, I mean, they are sticky as long as we can serve them with the quality we have, and we are really aiming to do that. It's in any other business, it's recurring from that perspective that the customers are happy with us and that we get in the fee income from that perspective. Perhaps you can comment on the divested entities a bit.

Yes, absolutely. I mean the logic here is that we provide services, I don't necessarily want to use big terms such as Banking as a Service, Software as a Service. But in the end, it's a recurring fee income, a couple of hundred thousand each month. Cooperation is going very well. We do not rather think in terms of stickiness, but rather how we can expand that to other clients as well. We have no reason to believe that this is not going to continue beyond the remainder of the year.

All right. No, understood. Then on Wholesale Banking. So if I saw correctly, the performance this quarter was very strong. It was somewhat weaker than in Q4. So can you maybe tell me again what were the drivers behind the strong performance? And should we expect kind of volatility in the top line growth throughout the year, like big jumps like we saw between -- from Q4 to Q1?

Well, the performance, like you said, was really good and comparing year-on-year, so extremely great growth. When it comes to volatility, so the dynamics are slightly different between Wholesale Banking and consumer, for instance. First of all, the number of customers is completely different. And once there are bigger cases, the portfolio there might be a month that we don't have too many bigger cases coming in.

And then next month onwards, we might have three or four big cases in. So from that perspective, for instance, the net receivables perspective, the volatility can actually be upwards quite high when it comes to net loans and investments. Of course, at that point, once we underwrite and ship out the money, then we always make the provisioning. So it's also impacting immediately on the P&L line.

When it comes to Payment Solutions, which is an important part of Wholesale Banking as well, that is not as volatile as you will be describing since we have institutional customers operating their payment businesses, which we are then supporting them on.

So the volumes are quite stable and these customers are not either there but changing their providers that often or redirecting the traffic differently. So from that side, there was no volatility.

Maybe one addition, if I may. With regards to the specific question, Q4, Q1 Wholesale Banking. And I somehow sense that you have your financial model in the back of your head when you raised this question. We had EUR 1.2 million fee income in Q4, EUR 600,000 in Q1 with around about EUR 600,000 onetime effect in Q4.

So when you think in terms of your financial model, then I would maybe disregard this EUR 600,000 onetime effect from Q4.

Thank you for clarifying that.

Yes. Thank you Bernd. Then maybe again on the cost-income ratio, and apologies, I think Roni might have asked this, but I missed the answer. So maybe the cost-income ratio jumped quite a bit. So could you provide the granularity what were the drivers behind this? Is this kind of the ramping up of the fee income business or wholesale banking ramp-up that is driving also a bit these costs? Or...

There are from cost-to-income ratio. Obviously, there are not only onetime, but like I said, we have been investing a lot of now to new technologies and also certain business units such as Wholesale Banking, as you're rightfully so saying, is something we are still ramping up, which comes with the cost.

But the long-term and mid- to long-term view for us is really clear that we are going to get the cost-to-income ratio down. Of course, then when you have a different restructuring, et cetera, the cost will come down.

And you see the scalability in the more mature businesses. So for instance, in consumer, there is no cost increase. I mean it's operating on a stable cost base. In the other two, we have between EUR 1 million, EUR 1.5 million, EUR 2 million cost increases, and that is what is needed in order to accelerate growth, we want to make sure that we have the resources in place to work on the deal pipeline in Wholesale Banking to establish the processes, the systems. So this is to be seen as an investment.

Thank you. We will then continue to take questions. Starting with 2 questions from Andreas Pläsier at Warburg. On CapitalBox, we have already talked a bit about it. But our guidance calls for a single-digit EBT for the full year. Can we provide some more color on the operational measures that we have for this turnaround? We have already mentioned the portfolio growth, but what else is in our toolbox?

Yes. So that's a really good question. So our portfolio has to obviously grow in order to get interest income. But how to get there is an excellent question. And it comes from -- first thing is speed. We have to be even faster than we are today serving our customers so that we can also choose the best quality customers on the market.

This is important also the previous question was a bit about the cost-to-income ratio, and that we have to also get in a better shape. And it comes with more automated processes, more use of AI, more speed and quality. That's how we see. And we have a clear plan with the management how to drive that forward.

Indeed. And how should we think about -- how should investors think about the impairments when progression when the loan book is growing?

Yes, whether we like it or not, growth is to be seen again in conjunction with credit losses. For instance, CapitalBox, as we are specifically talking about CapitalBox, increasing from EUR 2.5 million to EUR 2.7 million comparing the respective 2 first quarters of the year, '25 and '26. Is that a bad thing? No, it's not because portfolio increased quite significantly during that period of time.

So this is something that we think is just to be accepted. Naturally, mid to long term, I think this whole trajectory of reducing credit losses over portfolio size, improving asset quality, I think that is one of the three main drivers of profit that we also presented at Capital Markets Day over the last couple of earnings calls.

So the expectation is that we will, in absolute numbers, see a slight increase, but aggressive when it comes to volume development.

Another question from Warberg on Wholesale Banking. So Wholesale Banking has now delivered exceptional EBT growth in Q1 and is emerging as a key profit driver. With the business unit CEO departing in April, can you walk us through how management is ensuring continuity of client relationships, deal pipeline momentum? And how sensitive is the 50% EBT CAGR target setting that we announced on the Capital Markets Day?

Yes. Obviously, Alain did a great job in ramping up the Wholesale Banking. How we see it at the moment? Of course, we are looking to have a successor there. And at the moment, we are working -- I'm really involved at the moment in Wholesale Banking, secure debt and payments business myself. That was the unit that was helping us to set up a couple of years ago as well. So I know the business really well.

And nothing is in the company pending on one person. So we have a really great team in Wholesale Banking secure debt. The customer relationships are handled by the team. And I think we have a really bright future ahead of us like we have had right path already with the Wholesale Banking. I'm not worried.

Thank you. While we are on Wholesale Banking, we have another question from a private investor. Could you walk us through a bit the nature of the fee and commission income in the wholesale banking? What drives it? And how is it structured?

Yes. So mainly comes from payment business. So this is quite simple. We are processing payments on behalf of payment service providers, electronic money institutions. And we take a fee per transaction and then there are certain tiers as many transactions you are doing. There are minimum minimum fees and, of course, tiered transactions.

So the more transactions we are processing, the more fees we are getting on a monthly basis. And this is distributed by multiple customers, a couple of big ones and then smaller ones. And it's important to understand that once you onboard an electronic money institution or a payment service provider, you onboard, you start with a pretty, how would I say, slow in a sense, ramping up period that both parties are comfortable how we are working before we really ramp up. This is how the business works.

Thank you, then we have two similar questions on earnings progression. We have covered it a bit already that we have confirmed our full year guidance, but how should investors think about earnings progression through the year?

Full speed, And then we have EUR 4.4 billion. The mathematics linear extrapolation will not be enough to do the trick that's clear. But I think I've touched -- briefly touched upon three factors. One is portfolio growth. Here, we see quite significant momentum. Secondly is revenue growth. I've mentioned that Q1 revenue performance is already above the level of Q4 last year.

Number three, this phasing of profitability. So what we are seeing here is exactly in line with the plan of the ramp-up of the portfolios that we have reorganized where the offering has been changed in a couple of markets in the consumer business.

Number four, earn-out, I've mentioned that EUR 3 million connected cash from earn-out only EUR 0.9 million reflected in P&L. So this is an upside potential. And number five, the expectation that we remain as successful when it comes to credit loss management as expected.

Maybe just to put it in perspective, it's, of course, fair to compare the EUR 4.4 million to the EUR 7.2 million that we had last year. But 1 year before that, we had EUR 2.5 million net profit in Q1 and achieved EUR 20.5 million net profit. So this means that roughly 12% to 13% of the full year net profit was achieved in Q1.

Now we're talking about 15%, so relatively speaking, better. And with these drivers, it's obviously not guaranteed and a lot of actions need to work out well, but it's absolutely realistic. We have just completed the 2 days leadership team workshop here in Helsinki and confirmed internally and join forces behind this target, and we're optimistic.

Thank You, Then we have another question on the cash level that we have roughly EUR 480 million end of Q1. The question is why so much cash? I believe we have had this question before, but it's worth repeating the message.

Yes, there are two factors. One is the regulatory requirements that come with operating a bank. This is one. Nonetheless, we hold quite some, I would say, around about EUR 100 million, even a little bit more cash that is ready to be distributed to businesses. So I'm -- we are counting on our CEOs on the level of the three businesses to distribute and bring those -- bring the cash to revenue generating assets.

And then we have a temporary effect that has to do with the replacement of the perpetual bond, and that will, in the end, result in outflow, double-digit outflow in beginning of July this year, so that then we will see a cash outflow.

Yes. That was the next question, what is the plan with the 2021 perpetual bond? But as you said, it will be called on the update.

Yes, yes, exactly.

We'll announce very soon. I think that marks the end of the questions that we have received. So with that, we would like to thank you for your interest in Multitude today. And please tune in for our H1 earnings call on the 13th of August. Thank you, and goodbye.

Thank you.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. My name is Adam Hansson-Tonning. I'm the Head of IR and Treasury at Multitude. We appreciate taking the time to join us in today's call.

Today, we're going to present Multitude's 2025 preliminary results. And joining us today in today's broadcast from Helsinki, Finland is Multitude's CEO, Antti Kumpulainen; and CFO, Bernd Egger. After the presentation, we will have a Q&A session, where participants have the opportunity to ask questions via telephone conference or using the chat function in the webcast.

With no further ado, Antti.

Thank you, Adam, and welcome on my behalf as well. My name is Antti Kumpulainen, and I'm the CEO of Multitude Group. During this call, I will walk you through Multitude's earnings call and preliminary results for year 2025 with our CFO, Mr. Bernd Egger.

The year 2025 was a strong showcase of increasing our profitability and meeting our guidance, which we adjusted already after the first quarter last year. Today, we want to share with you with some key takeaways. First, our revenue continued to be stable. Interest revenue decreased slightly, but it was largely compensated by increased recurring fee income. Secondly, we delivered again a strong net profit, which increased by almost 32% to EUR 26.6 million.

Third, impairment losses on loans decreased over 15% year-on-year. Fourth, we confirm our net profit guidance with 20% net profit increase per annum for 2027 and '28. And fifth, we can state that our tri-pillar growth strategy is bringing the results we have been planning.

I would also like to note that we have successfully refinanced our perpetual bond with an increased volume from EUR 45 million to EUR 70 million, and this is strengthening our financial position and enabling further growth for Multitude.

I would like to recap briefly who we are and where we are heading. Multitude was founded in Finland in 2005. Our registered city is in Switzerland. We operate with a full EU-wide banking license and we are also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Prime Standard. We operate 3 independent business units on our growth platform, serving customers which are overlooked by traditional banks in consumer, SME and institutional client segments. Our operations expand to 17 European countries and we are focused in EEA markets.

Net profit in 2025, like I said, was EUR 26.6 million, and we exceeded our guidance. Revenue in 2025 was almost EUR 257 million, and our ambition is to pay dividend between 25% and 50% of the net profits.

Since the beginning of our company, we have always strived to build and offer services to customers who are overlooked by traditional banks. Our vision is to build the most valuable financial platform for them. We believe this can be achieved by offering an amazing customer experience that's digital, fast, easy and also a green choice.

Our FinTech growth platform serves as the core with scalable components hosting our own business units. The platform currently serves our 3 business units which are: Consumer Banking with Ferratum brand; business banking, CapitalBox, which focuses on digital SME banking; and our newest business unit, Wholesale Banking, with Multitude Bank brand. Our focus on the platform is to enhance scalability and constantly seek and be ready for new opportunities.

We have 2 investments in associated companies: Lea Bank, which is a Swedish bank; and Sortter, which is a digital loan broker. And Sortter was, by the way, recently listed in the top 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe by Financial Times. That's quite an achievement.

Dynamics in our strategy, they are quite simple. We concentrate on our three-pillar growth strategy, which consists of organic growth, partnerships and M&A transactions. Creating true value for our customers is in the middle of everything we do, scalability, which comes through AI, automation and a tight cost control.

Let's take a closer look into the performance of Multitude in 2025, which showed a strong net profit growth and further improved asset quality. Revenue development was stable and interest revenue was complemented with a significant increase in recurring fee revenue. Total revenue was EUR 257 million. Asset quality, this is important for us. That continued to improve, and impairments decreased by over 15% year-on-year, and we have seen this trend for a long time already.

Net profit grew by over 32% to EUR 26.6 million, exceeding our guidance of EUR 24 million to EUR 26 million. As we stated out earlier during the year, we reduced 1/3 of our legal entities. Each of our business units, they are in different life cycle and each one is contributing to these results. Our investment in Lea Bank shares has continued, and our stake has increased to 29.7%, and we are the largest shareholder in Lea Bank.

Going forward, we have clear focus. We are focusing on growing our business through our three-pillar growth model which are organic growth, partnerships and through selected M&A transactions; continue increasing our recurring fee income, and through that, we want to diversify our revenue profile in Multitude; maintaining high asset quality; we also need to achieve our net profit guidance of EUR 30 million in 2026, and after that, 20% growth per annum in years '27 and '28.

Then let's go to our business units. Next up is our business units, which we'll start with Consumer Banking, Ferratum. Ferratum has been our core business unit for 20 years and is still growing as the assets grew by over 8% in 2025. Interest income reduced slightly, but it was largely compensated by recurring fee revenue as per our strategy. Asset quality continued to improve and impairments went down by whopping 18%.

Three-year target in Ferratum is an EBT CAGR growth of 10% in the coming years. Focus for Ferratum is on high-profit markets, growth through partnerships and M&A opportunities. Streamlining of operations, scalability and continuing the increase of automation and extensive usage of data and rolling out AI are in the core of the activities.

Next, we will take a look at our business banking unit, CapitalBox. Revenue and portfolio continued to grow as planned. Our target was to reach profitability in quarter level end of 2025 which, unfortunately, we did not achieve. The development was anyway really good and we managed to reduce the losses by more than half. Asset quality continued improving and it led to a decrease in impairments by 15%.

Change in portfolio composition was clear and planned. Now 30% of the portfolio is in Secured Debt, and the total portfolio grew by over 8%. We have full focus in '26 to turn CapitalBox into profitability for the whole year of '26, and after that, 50% EBT CAGR following in the coming years. We believe we can make it.

Our youngest business unit, Wholesale Banking, they had a great growth numbers. Revenue grew by almost 70%, EBT by over 160% and portfolio by over 80%. Those are amazing numbers. Focus is clear: grow both sides of the business, which are Secured Debt and Payment Solutions.

There's a healthy mix of interest and recurring fee income in Wholesale Banking business units. Focus in this business unit is an EEA area. The team is now focusing on closing the secure debt pipeline, which is really strong at the moment. Same goes for the payment services. Now it is time to execute. Our 3-year target is growth in EBT by 50% CAGR.

Next, you will hear more in detail about the financials from our CFO, Mr. Bernd Egger. Please.

Thank you, Antti. Time to execute, that's a good starting point. Let me take a look at the key messages I want to bring across for 2025. Message number one, top line development revenue, broadly stable with a shift from interest income to fee income. This is super important to us. We've been working on this for several years now. Message number two, impairment losses decreased by 15.5%. Message number three, maybe the most relevant, net profit is an all-time high level.

The details. Interest income, EUR 242 million, down 7.3% from last year. However, fee income increased very significantly to EUR 15 million last year from EUR 2.6 million in 2024, so a factor of 6. Other income, EUR 3.3 million, including positive effects from entities sold during the year.

And results from associates, Antti already highlighted that we have 2. That's Lea Bank, we hold close to 30%, and Sortter. To be precise, by the way, Sortter is not only amongst the top 1,000. It's in the top quartile. It's on position 234 of European fastest-growing companies. So really a top, top, top achievement.

Operational expenses. Personnel expenses increased only slightly, mainly driven by growth initiatives. Selling and marketing and depreciation netting each other, also neutral. And that gets us to profit before tax of EUR 30.8 million, up by 1/3 from EUR 23.2 million last year.

Net profit, as pointed out, EUR 26.6 million, exceeding the initial guidance, so 16.6% above the initial guidance level of EUR 23 million and 6.5% above the midrange of the guidance, EUR 24 million to EUR 26 million, that we had issued about a year ago. And again, this is all-time high.

Balance sheet. Total assets increased by some 26%, EUR 1.4 billion altogether. Key drivers, loan portfolio and investments increased quite significantly by around about EUR 180 million. Positive statement here from our perspective, super important, all 3 business units are growing significantly. So Wholesale Banking, plus EUR 112 million portfolio size; Ferratum, plus EUR 40 million, so quite a significant increase in the consumer business; and EUR 25 million roundabout in the SME business.

Cash and equivalents increased to EUR 304 million. This supports future growth for 2026. Investments in associates, I've highlighted that already. We're very happy with the investments that we are currently holding.

Balance sheet liabilities and equity. Customer deposits remain the primary source of funding. We're exceeding the EUR 1 billion threshold for the first time. Current year-end, EUR 1.034 billion. Debt securities, up by around about EUR 30 million up to EUR 108 million. Key driver is regulatory capital. So you certainly know we have a bank in our group and have increased for the first time significant Tier 2 transaction on the level of the bank in 2025.

Taking all that together, total equity increased to EUR 208 million, first time above the EUR 200 million threshold, up 7.3%. Perpetual bond qualified as equity, Antti has highlighted already. I will give a little bit more detail on this transaction and the rationale when we talk about funding. And finally, our net equity ratio prior to the new PB transaction was close to 22%, so 400 basis points headroom from relevant covenants.

The segment view. Consumer Banking main focus from my perspective and from our perspective is profitability. We delivered continued high profitability, more than EUR 32 million profit before tax. That is the same level as last year. How do we get there? Interest income, we see a slight decrease, which we think is of temporary nature. Portfolio size increased quite significantly. A drop in interest income offset by a significant increase in the consumer business. Fee income, from EUR 2 million to EUR 12 million in a single year.

In addition, we earned more than EUR 6 million from earnout from businesses that we sold, which is not reflected in revenue. So they have a positive cash impact on the organization at some point. Fair value might be adjusted upwards, but not reflected in revenue.

Net operating income, EUR 176 million. And super important as well, impairment losses continue to decrease, down 18.1% to EUR 67 million. Profit before tax, as pointed out, stable on a super high level, EUR 32.5 million. So very happy with that. Still, the ambition is to grow profitability going forward.

SME, as pointed out, we've made further progress towards sustainable profitability. So we are really almost there. And I'm convinced that in 2026, we will be there. Interest income increased to EUR 35 million. Net operating income, EUR 26 million. Impairment losses, this was one of the key focus areas in '25, reduced by almost 15% to EUR 11.8 million.

And also something that is the result of quite an ambition during the year, operating expenses also reduced in absolute terms, not only relatively, but in absolute terms to EUR 18.7 million. And as a result of that, almost 2/3 of the losses from '27 could be cut in '25. So if we extrapolate linearly, then this makes us comfortable to achieve profitability in 2026.

Wholesale Banking, that's an easy one in a way. Profitable already in '24. Profitability has increased very significantly during '25 from EUR 1.1 million to EUR 2.8 million in revenue. Interest income, EUR 20 million, an increase that is very significant, 2/3, from EUR 13 million.

Fee income, again, something we've been striving for, for many years. Top performance, close to EUR 3 million from only EUR 0.5 million the year before, mainly coming from Payment Solutions. And all that reflects in EUR 2.8 million profit before tax in a still early business with huge potential.

Just a very quick look. I will not run through the details. Key message on credit loss development is, number one, this continues. The improving asset quality continues to be a significant profitability driver. Number two, despite the fact that we had some external challenging factors to be considered, we are super resilient, super stable. So around about EUR 20 million, this is the quarterly credit loss level. On an aggregated level, pretty much stable throughout the year.

Growing volume, stable. Credit losses that, in the end -- if you maybe could switch to the next slide because it doesn't work here anymore. Thank you. That is not the long-term perspective. I was referring to 2025 top performance. Long-term perspective, even more relevant from my perspective, highly resilient business, a clear downward trend which reflects improving asset quality.

Funding structure. Deposit, we spoke about that. We have successfully managed to bring weighted average cost of debt funding down quite significantly from more than 4% to 3.6% during the last year, 3.68% in Q4. That makes us comfortable that this trend will continue, and that is the expectation, the plan for '26.

Super important, Tier 2 transaction successfully placed from EUR 45 million to EUR 70 million. This helps us not only from a liquidity perspective, but also from a capital perspective. This qualifies as IFRS equity and supports growth, both organic growth of the organization, but also gives us a lot of flexibility when it comes to inorganic growth opportunities.

With that, one final and confirming look on our capital market guidance. Statement number one, '25 exceeded, in fact, overachieved, and again, 16.6% above the initial guidance of EUR 23 million. '26 confirmed. We stick to the EUR 30 million net profit guidance.

Operational targets, you are familiar with. A 20% return on tangible equity target that we have introduced for '28. We're getting there. '25, already 16.5% return on tangible equity. That is already very strong. And we are on the way to 20%. Cost-to-income ratio at 48%, very comfortable that we get down to 40% by '28.

Key takeaways. Revenue, stable with a shift to fee income. That is something that is the reflection of our long-term strategy. Asset quality, improving significantly. Net profit up by almost 1/3 to EUR 26.6 million. '26 guidance confirmed, EUR 30 million plus 20% increase thereafter up until 2028. We continue to execute the tri-pillar strategy in delivering the growth. And finally, the information that you received already on the successful PB transaction.

With that, I hand over to the team, and we are open and looking forward to receiving interesting questions.

Yes. Can you shift the slide? So we will now start the Q&A session, and we will start with live questions followed by questions from the chat. Perhaps we can start with a live question.

Roni Peuranheimo from Inderes. Congrats on the good quarter. So maybe if you're thinking about the '26 guidance, so could you maybe rank what is the most important driver? Is it returning to growth or continued lowering of the impairment losses or cost cuts?

If I start. Thank you, Roni. The most important drivers, you mentioned them all already. I believe we have to go really well to the growth path again. I remind you that we are in a good progress of increasing our recurring fee revenues. So this is something that we definitely will continue doing. Growth is coming from all 3 business units, so this is important. And we see that it's really coming from all 3.

Cost control is something we have a really, really tight eye on all the time and usage of AI automization even more widely than we are using it today. These are not new things to us. We have been working with AI machine learning, for instance, in our risk management for years already. And everything is about scalability for our growth next year. That is where we're going to head.

Maybe then regarding the net interest income development. So how much concrete outlook do you have regarding that? And maybe if you can give some estimate about the timeline of the recovery.

Well, recovery, I'm not super happy, if I may be honest, with the recovery term because in 2 out of 3 businesses, net interest income is growing. In the third business, we have three factors to consider. One is, and I'm referring to Consumer now, a shift to fee income. This is not something that happened. This is something that we have intentionally tried to achieve. Now for the first time, we're achieving it. So that's not a negative thing.

Secondly, we have sold businesses. They contribute also to fee income quite significantly. Quite significantly means EUR 5 million in H2. This is service fees, in the end, Software as a Service, Tech as a Service to external partners.

And number three, not reflected in interest income at all is the EUR 6 million from earn-out. So we're selling business. We are getting back a profit contribution from the businesses that we're servicing for externals. And that is, whether we like it or not, the logic of IFRS is something we can debate, but it's not reflected. And if we add that back, then we have no drop in interest income at all in the organization.

So long story short, I think also in Consumer, a EUR 40 million large portfolio, we are very well on track.

[Operator Instructions]

Shall we take some chat questions in between? Yes. All right. So we have a question from [ Thomas Keiser ]. Congratulations to the numbers. A share buyback program would deliver a lot of value. Is this something that you consider?

Do you want to start?

You can start.

I mean, share buyback program is a very interesting topic. We've done a share buyback program in 2025. This is something that is subject to quite heavy regulation so it's limited. So that means as limit is, in the end, some 25% of the shares that we are trading on average, I don't think that it necessarily is something that will be as attractive as some think it might be.

We think that with the capital that we have in the organization, we can do a lot. We can build a substantial increase in business volume, in profitability, potentially engage in M&A transactions. So I don't want to preempt any discussions, but it's not something that I would expect over the next couple of weeks.

Two further questions from the same investor then. In terms of timing of CapitalBox getting into profitability, how do you look at that over the trend of the year, so to say?

I think this is pretty clear. Like Bernd already stated, that we managed to reduce the losses last year of almost 60%. And we can see that the same trajectory is going on. Of course, it doesn't happen over the night. But our target is not to be breakeven in CapitalBox at some point this year.

We are talking about full year of 2026 to be profitable. This is our target. And yes, it's not going to happen perhaps in the first half of the year that we would already be on breakeven point or pretty close to it. But we are looking now for the full 2026. And there, we have a strong commitment of making a positive result for CapitalBox.

Very good. I think we have a question on the audio line.

The next question comes from Julius Neittamo from NuWays.

Congratulations on the results. I have just a very quick question here. So what was the contribution of Wholesale Banking to the fee and commission income in the last quarter?

Well, for the full year, it was EUR 2.9 million in the Wholesale Banking out of EUR 15 million together, consolidated. So EUR 15 million is the whole company, EUR 12 million, Consumer, and EUR 2.9 million, Wholesale.

Wholesale, we have EUR 2.1 million is payment. And out of that, I think we see a clear trend to increase it over the year. So EUR 2.9 million Wholesale out of EUR 15 million, to cut the long story short.

Maybe to expand on the fee and commission income, a bit on the outlook for this year then. Where do you see it evolving from here? I mean we've seen kind of a spectacular growth here this year. How do you see it for this year then?

We see that we are growing this year in recurring fee income for sure. What are the exact numbers? We haven't been disclosing the split between interest revenue and recurring fee revenue. What I can say that the different sources for recurring fee, for instance, is coming from partnerships, which we are looking actively to expand on. And there, we can see more fee income.

Payment side of the Wholesale Banking is growing. Onboarding of institutional clients is going all the time. So we do see a growth which is meaningful for 2026. It's not going to be only slightly. We see meaningful growth in 2026 on both business units on this, Consumer and Wholesale Banking.

All right. Thank you, Julius. We have a question from a private investor on the cash level. EUR 304 million is quite high. Is this level needed for operations? Or do we have any acquisition plans for usage of the cash?

This, I would direct perhaps to Bernd when we talk about money.

Thank you so much. I think there are three questions in this question. First of all, whether we need the cash for M&A transactions. The positive note is we have flexibility currently for M&A transactions both from a cash and from an equity perspective. So we would not be dependent on external funding for those transactions. So this is a very positive factor for us.

Secondly, we have some cash minimum targets on operational level that are important to us that give us the flexibility. Here, we are slightly above the minimum levels.

And the third one is the regulatory ratios that we need to factor in on the level of the bank that have to do with some net sales funding ratios, liquidity coverage ratios on the level of the bank need to be fulfilled at all times. Here, we have a little bit of overliquidity currently. We hope that we can deploy that, and we're optimistic that we can deploy that to business growth in Q1 and Q2.

Thank you. A tied question. What was the average cost of funding? I think we went it through. But how do we perhaps see the development of this going into '26 further?

Yes, if I may continue. Weighted average cost of debt in Q4 is slightly above 3.6%, coming from 4.2% around about a year ago. So that is a 60 basis points reduction in 1 year. Naturally, the ambition is to push down further. We do so by focusing fully to the extent possible on deposits.

We have some old term deposits that we just needed to take in back then that were a bit expensive 24, 36 months. But those are melting off now. So from that perspective, without promising too much, I think the trend that you see on this slide showing the weighted average cost of debt development is a good indicator.

Thank you. And other financing-related question which we have received from multiple questioners. How do we see the dividend based on the results? We didn't mention it in the presentation.

No, we did not mention. The only thing we mentioned actually on the first slide, I believe, or second slide for myself was that, we have already told this in our Capital Markets Day, that we have a strong commitment of targeting 25% to 50% of the net profit of our dividends on an annual basis. And at this point, this is the only statement I will make about the dividends.

Good. And then the final question that we have currently is coming back again to the fee and the commission income and if you could provide some more color on the development of it. I think you already have. But how significant do you see the growth potential in the area is the exact question?

I see the growth potential is significant for sure. Let's remember that we had almost nothing in 2024 when it came to the recurring fee, going up to EUR 15 million in 2025. So we have just started on that path, and we really believe that we will grow significantly. Not to go into exact numbers, but we see a really, really good growth trajectory.

There's lots of demand on payment side for us. There's lots of demand on partnership side, which we are doing really well at the moment. So I see no reason why we wouldn't grow in a meaningful way, contributing to Multitude results.

Thank you. I believe that marks the end of the Q&A session, and it's time to end this earnings call. We thank you for your interest. And we remind that we will publish our full annual report in 2 weeks.

Thank you. See you next time.

Thank you. Have a good day.

Thank you, Bernd. We now move on to our Capital Markets Day agenda and I would like to welcome to the stage our first speaker, multitude founder, Jorma Jokela.

Helpful -- thanks for you. Okay. Dear investors, partners, friends and colleagues. It's a true pleasure to welcome you all to our Capital Markets Day and at the same time to celebrate the very special milestone multitude 20 years anniversary. I want to start by expressing my gratitude to everyone who has been the part of this journey, our incredible employees, loyal customers, dedicated partners and supportive investors. Each of you has played an important role in shaping who we are today.

A few months ago, we brought our Multitude family to all people back to our routes in Finland, the Finnish countryside to celebrating this milestone. We spent 3 days together. We compete in different sports, listened to inspiration stories from the keynote speakers work it and learn together and, of course, had a lot of fun together as well.

This even unite us as one global team as one Multitude. Today, I'm so proud to stand here in front of you looking back where everything start 20 years ago and where we are today. We have built together something unique. The most important thing for me is that this is just the beginning. The best chapter of our journey are still ahead of us. We have over 20 years successful track record in delivering profit and growth year after year.

We have built the fintech innovation, ranging from digitalized lending to simplify pan-European payment solution. During those 20 years, we have stayed fully focused offering amazing pure digital service to customers who are often overlooked by traditional banks. We operate in 20 countries across Europe with 3 different business units, serving 3 different customer segments on the Multitude platform.

Under Ferratum brand, we specialize in consumer customer. Under Capital Box brand, we focus SME customers and our wholesale customers and payment services are offered under multitude Bank brand. Our team share a dream to change the world by digitalized financing financing and ensuring that all overlook customers are served with amazing experience. We know that when we achieve this, our second dream will come through as well. Scaling our platform further and become a unicorn by 2028.

Magnitude people, our inspiration comes from our vision to build the most valuable financial platform, keep amazing experience for the customers who are often -- who are often overlooked by main street banks. We want to democratize financial service through digitalization, making them fast, easy and green. Our values define who we are and how we success together. Our customers are always heart of everything what we do. Every innovation, every product and every decision starts with their needs. We act bold, [indiscernible], and we dare to innovation. We think like entrepreneurs because that's how real change happened.

We believe in open and honest communication, always with respect for each other. Transparency build trust and trust builds great teams. We treat everyone equal. Our customer partners, colleague, and we take responsibility for impact we have an associated. And finally, winning teams, we achieved our calls together. We learn from challenge, we celebrate success and always strive to become stronger as a One multitude.

Those values are not just a word on the wall, they guide our daily action and shape our culture. The story of Multitude become in 2004, when I read the article about the Bangladeshi entrepreneur who had won the Noble prize in economic for giving us small social loans. It made us think why don't Europe, the consumers have access to fast and pure digital financial solution. At that time, we were a small team in Helsinki, we saw the clear cap in the market and want to change the consumer banking market, make it open, accessible and fully digital. And this is the whole idea of Ferratum was born.

In May 2005, we launched the first fully digital consumer loans in Finland. We didn't know if people won't like it, but very next few days, we received hundreds of application. And our early IT system, we have the blinking lights and the sounds every time when the new loan application came in, and it becomes so constant that we had to turn it off after 2 days. And that was the start of the one of the European more successful fintech story. The next year, we launched in Sweden and Estonia. And again, we found a strong demand. We realize we have found a unique customer segment overlooked by main street banks. And that focus has stayed at the heart of everything we have done over the last 20 years.

Between 2008 and 2011, we expanded rapidly, entering the new countries every 3 months with a great success. By 2009, in the middle of the financial crisis, we begun to thinking about how to secure funding for the long term. We realize that the banking license will be the right solution for us. It's allowing us to take a retail deposit and access European markets like a German, Norway and France, where lending required a full banking license.

After a long process in September 2012, we received our license. We've passported it across Europe and centralized operation under the One banking entity in Malta. From there, we become cross-border lending. People sometimes ask why Malta. The answer is simple. It's a part of Eurozone EU providing the smooth access to euro system. English is also official language, which makes communication easier for a company like ours with 750 people and [ 40 ] nationality. A few years later, in 2015, we listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the prime standard. We have already issued [indiscernible] Chairman and built a strong investor base there.

The IPO, it gave us EUR 50 million in the new equity to accelerate growth. And for us, the management, it was about building the next chapter. The IPO was turning point. Our first decade has single product strategy, scaling probably into new markets. The next decade called the multiproduct strategy, credit card, credit lines, SME lending, payment and mobile banking, growth stays strong, become more diversified, but also more complex. We have always have been the strong capability simplifying complex through technology, making data-driven decisions and focusing the overlook customers.

At that end of decade, we prepare for the next phase. We rebranded Ferratum brand only for the consumer customers, launched Capital Box brand for the SME customers and true become as a Multitude. As a part of transformation, we also moved our headquarter from Finland to Switzerland. Looking back, I saw the clear pattern. Every year, our strategic generation, how we call those, we build something new, and then we scale it, then we build new and scale it and so on.

And now we are entering the new strategy generation at the same cycle. In recent years, we have built our platform. And now we are scaling it across to all our business. So to summarize, during our first 10 years, we focused on the single product strategy, the next 10 years, the multi product strategy and the coming 10 years on the platform strategy, bringing everything together under one platform and adding partners and acquisition to drive our next generation growth.

But let's take a closer look at the Multitude platform. Our Fintech cloud platform is built around idea that Multitude serve as a core holding on our scalable component just a technology funding and AI tools. We currently have those 3 business units on the platform. We have expanded the platform through partnership and investment in attractive opportunities, including [ just below 30% ] stake in the Swedish digital lender, Leabank, and 20% stake in the fast-growing loan broker Sorter. And we support them with the same dedication as if they were the full owner by us, providing our platform elements to drive [indiscernible] growth, efficient, of course, when they needed that one.

All platform business benefits from each other through the cross-selling. And of course, the while Multitude we came from the growing associate income as the ecosystem profitability increase. Looking ahead, our focus is twofold: improving the business already in our platform and finding the new investment opportunities. So at the Multitude, we have simplified our strategy road map. To achieve our dream to become the unicorn by 2028, we must get 3 things right. revenue up, cost down and value creation for our customers, both group level and every business level.

Our team members will speak more about those all elements they own presentation. But let me repeat, revenue up, cost down and value creation for our customers. So thank you for all the listening me. And now I would like to hand over to Multitude CEO, Antti Kumpulainen. Antti, floor is yours. .

Thank you. Thank you, Jorma. And welcome to the Capital Markets Day part of today on my behalf as well. At our last Capital Markets Day, 2 years ago, we announced our management dream of making a Multitude of EUR 1 billion valued company. That remains a high level of ambition. And today, together with our team, we will open up what the building blocks are and how we aim to make that dream come true. We continue to build on our unique strengths. We have always had a deep understanding of customers who are often overlooked by main street banks for one reason or another. The solution we provide meet specific customer needs in the market, whatever the product is.

Our superb risk management capabilities have consistently enabled superior risk-adjusted returns, and they continue to do so. We keep enhancing our proprietary models and fully leverage our in-house data science capabilities for underwriting and portfolio optimization. To grow profitably, we have rightsized and scalable internal processes, keeping things simple and avoiding unnecessary complexity is the strength across all of our functions and business units

Innovation, yes, that remains key to our success. The entrepreneurial culture we have always had a Multitude is a cornerstone of our innovation process and our ability to make quick decisions to gain competitive advantage. We have 3 key priorities that guide us forward. Firstly, revenue needs to grow, and our tri-pillar growth model consisting of organic growth, partnerships and M&A provides a clear path forward. Historically, our revenue has been based on interest income. That element continues to grow, and we have added recurring fee income to the mix as well.

All of our business units will generate both interest income and recurring fee income when going forward. Secondly, we must be scalable and operationally effective. We continue to simplify and streamline our operations through automization, extensive use of data and deeper embedding of AI functionality, scalability across all of our core processes.

We have also enhanced our resilience in all conditions, diversifying our deposit taking and shifted significantly to newer, cheaper and more effective deposit taking channels, underwriting capabilities across all businesses are a key factor in our success and in keeping costs down. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, we must create value for our customers. That means having a strong USP in each country and product, and this goes for all the business units in multitude. We serve segments of customers who are after overlooked and for our platform customers. We continue to strengthen the value of our platform and drive even greater synergies.

All of this leads to net profit, which we expect to be growing substantially on an annual basis going forward. All of our business units follow our 3-pillar model for growth and diversification of revenue streams. Each of the business units will continue to grow organically as they have done through our 20-year journey in a Multitude. Organic growth will happen in current markets in new markets we will open and through cross-selling of our products to our existing customers. partnerships. They are important for every business unit, though the type of partnership will vary from white label and embedded partnerships, the sales partnerships. This is depending on business units.

We also do see M&A opportunities as an important driver of growth, especially in the Consumer and Business Banking segments. Recurring fee income will play an even more important role in our future revenue streams. Our business unit leaders Kristjan, Mantvydas and Alain will share more in detail later today about how they are going to grow their businesses. increasing scalability and lowering costs even further remain key priorities. We aim to lower our cost-to-income ratio to 40% in the coming years.

Our approach is based on 3 main factors: First, simplification. Multitude group structure has been streamlined from our 40 entities to fewer than 20 today. Our business units now have a clear focus areas, while the group's role is to steer and support and businesses are driving business. Second, accountability. We are in the process of aligning that 80% of the costs will be directly to the businesses that generate them. Costs need to sit where business ownership sits. This drives change, results and accountability.

Third, optimization and innovation. Noncore processes can be outsourced to maintain focus on the business and business only. We continue to optimize actions and processes in every function and unit. We can also do things smarter. The organization can be further optimized and effectivity increased. The increased use of AI and further automation, it's not an option. It's a necessity across the company. AI must be rolled out to all of our processes and tasks, and we will continue investing in our proprietary AI and data platform even more than in the past.

We have delivered a strong profit in a challenging market and have consistently met our guidance for the past 4 years. Earlier this year, we increased our guidance to a range between EUR 24 million and EUR 26 million in net profit. We have maintained that guidance ever since. With the teams I just presented, we are confident we can continue this performance in the future. Later today, our business units will share their targets through 2028. And our CFO, Bernd Egger, will wrap up the group numbers and guidance for you to share.

As Jorma highlighted, the mission is pretty clear. To grow the revenue, lower our cost and deliver sustainable value to our customers and to you, our investors. Now it's time to hear from our business unit leaders, starting with Consumer Banking presented by Kristjan Kajakas. Welcome, Kristjan.

Hello, everyone. I am Kristjan Kajakas, CEO of Consumer Banking, also known as Ferratum. Today, I'll walk you through our plans for the next 3 years, how we intend to reach our growth ambitions and continue delivering profitable sustainable performance. We in Ferratum provide fully digital unsecured lending that helps people manage unplanned financial needs, fast, simple and trusted.

We operate in 13 countries with around 350 employees and managing a EUR 500 million portfolio across Europe. We hold leadership position in the Nordics and Eastern Europe combining local expertise with global efficiency. Our product portfolio includes installment loans, revolving credit and the current account in our mobile application. Our entire value proposition is built on speed, convenience, simplicity and trust, the foundations that deliver customer loyalty and our profitability.

Our customers are financially responsible. Tech savvy individuals who value speed and simplicity when life throws unexpected expenses to their way. They are often overlooked by traditional banks but they deserve access to transparent, flexible and fair solutions. What we offer is uncomplicated fast digital financial services available anytime and anywhere. They are delivered locally with global efficiency. Ferratum ensures every customer receives an experience that is both personal and consistent across all markets. The success of consumer banking is driven by 4 levers. It's the speed, convenience, simplicity and trust.

Our advanced scoring and payments technology enable instant decisions and rapid payouts. Customers enjoy a 100% online, mobile-first experience with minimal friction, no paperwork, no waiting. Operating for nearly 2 decades in regulated markets, we've built a trusted brand recognized for reliability, compliance and customer satisfaction. These 4 levers work together to create a scalable, efficient and customer-focused models that sets us apart in the market.

Our Consumer Banking business continues to deliver solid profitability, supported by scale, portfolio quality and operational efficiency. In the short term, revenue will reflect the planned effects of restructuring, product adjustments in Germany and the interest rate cap in Sweden. These are controlled and well-managed changes designed to strengthen our long-term earnings space. At the same time, fee income is growing. And the credit performance continues to improve, driving a healthier and more resilient earnings profile with profit growth increasingly coming from stronger asset quality and recurring fee income rather than the volume alone.

Our growth model is built on 3 complementary billers, organic growth, partnerships and M&A. Today, around 90% of our revenue comes from our organic business, which continues to grow strongly across all core markets. In the coming years, we aim to complement the organic growth with capital-light partnerships and selective acquisitions that expand our reach and capabilities. This balanced approach keeps our core engine of organic growth at the center, while leveraging partnership and M&A to accelerate innovation, diversify revenues and further strengthen our ecosystem and profitability.

Now I'll walk you through how each of these growth pillars contribute to our long-term profitability. Our organic growth strategy is built on 3 interconnected stages. We have a short-term actions to optimize the funnel, midterm for scaling of products and long-term value through greenfield expansions. We're using a real-time data, advanced scoring models and external data sources to increase approvals without adding risk. Our AI-driven insights support personalized retention and higher customer lifetime value, while autonomous servicing is transforming how we engage customers, already today, automating around 85% of interactions with the ambition to reach 95%.

All of this is powered by our centralized data platform, which processes over 200 million data points daily driving faster and smarter decisions across marketing, risk and operations. Our focus is on profit-driven growth. managing pricing discipline and targeting our customer segment that delivers the best returns. We'll be rolling out bigger installment products to meet broader customer needs and increase share of wallet, while continuing to innovate, building credit card capabilities and enriching our mobile app experience.

Each initiative strengthens customer engagement, boost retention and create sustainable recurring revenue growth. Finally, we take a selective and data-driven approach to new market entries. Our existing digital platform allows us to scale fast in high-potential markets within minimal additional investment, while maintaining full control of pricing, compliance and brand standards. We follow strict capital allocation principles, entering only those markets that meet our yield and risk thresholds. Also, we're exploring to open some new markets during next 2 to 3 years, ensuring every step adds measurable value to our shareholders.

Our ecosystem and underwriting capabilities enable partners to launch digital credit and savings products quickly and seamlessly, all under their own brands. These collaborations generate recurring high-margin fee income without increasing our balance sheet exposure or they help us acquire new customers at a lower cost. It's a capital-light, highly scalable model that extends our reach across fintechs, retail brands and digital platforms, keeping profitability and efficiency at the center of our growth strategy.

We operate through 2 complementary partnership models. First, business-to-consumer model, where we -- where a direct partner integrates Ferratum Power Products into its own brand. We provide the technology, underwriting and operational backbone while the partner manages the customer relationship and front-end experience. Second, the business-to-business-to-consumer model where Ferratum integrates into a platform or network serving multiple sub partners and their customers. This model delivers exponential scalability. One integration connects us to many partners and customer bases.

In both models, Ferratum provides the full product stack from onboarding and decisioning to servicing and compliance, enabling partners to focus entirely on the customer experience while we power everything behind the scenes. Our M&A strategy is disciplined and selective. We target opportunities in portfolio acquisitions, market entries and associated companies that provide us clear strategic fit and meet our return requirements. Every deal must accelerate scale, strengthen our market position or complement our platform, all while preserving capital efficiency and profitability.

Our growth is driven by disciplined execution of our growth strategy and operational efficiency. We continue to control costs, reduce impairments and scale automation and AI to strengthen margins and resilience. Through partnerships, we keep customer acquisition costs low while deepening engagement with our core customer segment. Looking ahead, we target around 10% [ EBT CAGR ] by 2028, supported by growing fee income, stronger credit quality and capital-light partnership revenues. Our focus remains on profitable, well-balanced growth, not pure volume expansion. And in summary, Ferratum is a lean, automated and capital-efficient lender, positioned to deliver sustainable earnings and consistent value creation for our shareholders. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Kristjan. We then move on to our next speaker for the business unit Capital Box, presented by its CEO, Mantvydas Stareika.

Hello, everyone. I am Mantvydas, CEO of Capital box, and I'm here to walk you through Multitude Group business banking journey how we are building a scalable data-driven SME lending platform that's on the road to profitability. Capital Box operates in 5 Northern European countries. Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and the Netherlands. More than 80 professionals manage over 160 million lending portfolio and serve more than 9,000 SME customers.

With over 10 years in this business we understand the risk, credit behavior and how to adopt through different economical cycles. We all know that SME is the real backbone of every economy. The new SME environment values speed, simplicity and flexibility, but traditional banks still operate in a slow and manually heavy process. According to the latest reports, access to finance remains one of the top pain points for small and medium enterprises. And that's the gap we fill. We focus on businesses that are often too small for traditional banks to serve efficiently but large enough that need reliable financing companies with revenue below EUR 10 million and who need working capital fast.

Our model is simple, fully digital, fully automated and built around the needs of small business owners. From 3-minute online application to personalized offer and near instant disbursement, we combine automation with a human touch when needed. We serve the full range of SME needs from short-term liquidity to grow financing between EUR 5,000 and EUR 3 million. Our value proposition is stronger than the [indiscernible] standard. We believe SME should get funding in less than 1 day.

And for our existing customers, we are already talking about hours. That's powered by our multiproduct lending model, unsecured, secured and factoring and our ability to blend digital automation with experienced risk management. We automate smaller loans while managing larger and secured deals through expert underwriting. Let's talk about the road to profitability and recent development.

We remain strongly committed to unsecured lending now with a better risk control and a much wider reach through digital data and PSD2 integrations. Our model allows us to manage risk proactively and continuously. At the same time, our secured portfolio shall increase by double digits in 2025, reflecting a more balanced approach. Repeat borrowing now accounts for 40% of the portfolio, growing 10% year-over-year. Our active customer base grew by 60% and driven by a lower churn and higher repeat usage.

Data analytics help us identify the most profitable segments and continuously refine yield and risk performance. We continue to scale through organic growth, embedded finance, partnerships and targeting M&A. First, organic growth. We have high efficiency, risk control and digital reach, keeping strong risk-adjusted returns. Unsecured lending remains a key focus, especially with more than 70% applications being scored automatically. Also, it is complemented by secured and factoring products to grow customer lifetime value and profitability.

Second, we are embedding finance directly into partner ecosystems. POS providers, ERP systems and marketplaces using our API-based integrations. And third, we actively explore opportunities and potential to strengthen our scale, our positioning, including license and unlicensed targets. This gives us a flexibility for the future market or product centers while maintaining a disciplined, profitable growth mindset.

To prove our direction for scalability, our partnership model is already showing results. Here's an example of our latest strategic partnership. Through Capital Box and Multitude group white label financing, we integrate our lending products into partners' ecosystems, whether they serve consumers or SMEs. With our API connections, partners can offer Capital Box financing directly inside their own customer journey under their own brand, with our credit engine and technology behind it.

For partners, that creates new revenue streams and stronger customer relationships without building their own lending infrastructure. For customers, it means fast transfer, access to financing right there already to do business. And for the market, it's a scalable model that connects traditional finance with embedded digital solutions. This model expands our reach, reduces acquisition costs and positions us as the financing engine inside digital ecosystems. Efficiency is the core of our profitability road map.

We now have end-to-end automated credit decisions for unsecured loans, allowing faster turnaround typically under 24 hours, while maintaining consistent risk quality. Our low-touch operations drive a lower cost per loan and every part of the process is designed to scale. Using PSD2 and advanced analytics, we identified the most valuable SME segments and predict behavior more accurately. That's how we already improved customer lifetime value by more than 40%.

Together, the 3 engines, automation, pricing and data gives operational leverage. Every new loan now contributes more to profit than the one before. Looking ahead, we continue moving beyond lending to building multiservice SME platform. We will combine lending payments, cards and accounts creating seamless financial experience for small businesses.

Our ambition is to be a go-to financial partner for SMEs with the speed and innovation of a fintech and the reliability of a bank. Therefore, we are building not an [ insulated ] products. We are building an ecosystem that grows with every customer. Now let's talk openly about the profitability. Yes, we acknowledge that we have not fully delivered our [ ABT ] results yet, but our target is clear and achievable. Here's why. We have reduced credit losses by 30% compared to last year. We have built a scalable cost base supported by automation.

Our risk-adjusted yields are stable and retention keeps improving. And with this increased share of secured products, our portfolio is becoming structurally more resilient to market changes. Following this logic, we continue the same path to deliver positive EBT next year, and this is the clearly achievable. We are confident that this result will be followed by 50% annual growth in the following years.

We are improving revenue quality through higher customer retention and strong cross-sell. We are strengthening portfolio performance using real-time credit data and PSD2 insights. And we are scaling profitably with automation, lowering unit costs as volume grows. In short, we now have the structure, data and discipline to turn growth into sustainable returns. According to this clear trend, we are close to demonstrate a sustainable and profitable business banking results.

So to summarize, our mission remains the same. To empower small businesses with the financial tools they need to grow. And as we continue this transition from a single product lender to a multiservice SME platform, we're unlocking even greater value for our customers. The transformation is well underway, and we are confident in the road ahead.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mantvydas. I would just like to clarify that the single-digit positive EBT refers to millions of single digits, so not just an integer. But with that, we move on to our next business unit, Wholesale Banking presented by Alain Nydegger, CEO.

[Presentation]

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Alain Nydegger and I lead Wholesale Banking, a business unit built on ownership, clarity and high agency. Around 3 years ago, this was just an idea, concept. Today, we are proud, it's a cash flow positive, profitable units and it's contributing very fast to the bottom line of our group. That kind of trajectory doesn't happen by chance. It happens when people take ownership and move with conviction. 2 engines, 1 scalable model. That's the topic.

We serve clients as we heard it a couple of times today, others overlook, institutional borrowers, in our case, asset owners and fintechs with strong potential, but limited access to traditional finance. Let me first talk about secured debt, where we structured tailored financing across direct lending, real estate and asset-backed deals. Each transaction is bespoke, balancing carefully risk and opportunity to unlock liquidity and drive growth.

Payment Services, on the other hand, where we enable regulated payment service providers in short PSPs and fintechs to access European payment rails, FX and safeguarding accounts. The essential infrastructure to scale with confidence and compliance, both segments share the same DNA, clarity, execution and scalability. Our efficient platform converts growth directly into profits, every incremental deal flows almost entirely to the bottom line at that stage. That's how we turn overlooked opportunities into durable compounding value, both for our clients and us.

Across both segments, our promise is the same: reliability. When we commit, we execute fast, clean and right the very first time. As already mentioned, wholesale Banking is now the fastest-growing business unit within the group. Revenue has more than tripled since '23 and profitability is catching up very fast, is accelerating. And we feel that the foundation is in place. Now scalability is the name of the game and takes over. Growth increasingly flows straight into earnings.

Secured debt has expanded its net assets, the portfolio size by more than 50% year-to-date. When we look at the end of Q3, now exceeding over EUR 200 million with stable yields close to 10%, and that's very important for us and excellent credit quality. Payment Services has built a recurring high-margin fee base that scales without adding significant costs. That's high operating leverage in motion. The reward for building lean, disciplined and client focused. Let's dive a bit deeper into secured debt.

Our first business segment within the units, where, as I have mentioned, we finance institutional borrowers and asset-backed opportunities that just sits beyond the comfort zone of some of our competitors. Each transaction is bespoke, tailored, every risk carefully assessed and understood. We combine institutional-grade risk management with entrepreneurial structuring. We move very fast, financing that advances projects and creates enduring value.

Our focus is on building lasting relationships not one-offs with clients and partners who value reliability and trust. This isn't about chasing volume. We want to grow from one number to the other. Every euro is deployed with purpose and care. Typical transactions range from EUR 5 million to EUR 30 million designed and intended to unlock liquidity where others stall or hesitate.

Let's look at our portfolio composition within Wholesale Banking within the secured debt part. Our secured debt portfolio has scaled fast from below EUR 75 million in early '24 to over EUR 200 million as per the end of Q3. It is a well diversified book across 3 collateral classes, direct lending, real estate and mobile assets with a very strong footprint in the Nordics and Baltics. We now operate in 10 European jurisdictions, each one chosen for familiarity with the legal framework and the ability to structure deals that protect Multitude through significant overcollateralization.

And yet yields remain near 10%. Maturities are balanced around 2 years and credit performance stays consistently strong with an average duration of just 2 years, one can imagine that we've already seen our first refinancing talks, and we are very proud to say and announce that we did successful refinancing, a clear proof that clients return to multitude for repeat business. For the future, about our pipeline. Our pipeline is deep, very disciplined. Our rejection rate is very high.

And so it's built around attractive risk-adjusted returns and an origination engine that delivers scale, speed and selectivity. We are not chasing volume. We are building a high-performing, resilient book designed to compound value over time. Let me give you an example. InSoil, formerly known as heavy finance, a fintech lender supporting small and midsized farmers across Europe. They needed scalable institutional funding to expand EU-wide, we, on our side, offered and structured a bankruptcy-remote SPV and a forward flow program enhanced by an EIF guarantee covering most of the portfolio.

The result for them, a stable, long-term funding, a lower cost of capital and a repeatable model that scales across markets. That's how we create value by structuring intelligently, executing fast and aligning incentives all the way through with our clients and partners. So looking ahead, our focus is scale, but smart controlled scale. We are expanding capacity through deal pots, small, highly specialized teams that own the full cycle, origination, structuring and risk. It's a model built for accountability, precision and speed.

Every deal has a clear owner and a clear outcome. We are also syndicating with third-party investors, accelerating capital rotation and unlocking new fee-based revenue through origination and placement. The principle is simple, apply strict filters at the very beginning at the top of the funnel, to cut out weak cases very early. Once the deal qualifies, one person owns it, fully understands the data, the risk and then that's the path for a quick and efficient execution.

That's how we deploy capital, fast, clean and with conviction. And that is how the engine compounds discipline at the start, decisive at the finish, scalable by design. Let's look into Engine #2, Payment Services. Our second business segment, Payment Services runs on the same DNA, precision, reliability and speed. We serve payment institutions and fintech PSP, payment service providers across Europe, especially those in regulated sectors that need stable, compliant access to the banking system.

Our platform provides API-based accounts, access to local payment rails, ForEx and safeguarding, all delivered with the precision of a regulated bank. It's embedded infrastructure for fast-moving companies that can't afford compliance friction. We give them the rails, they drive the growth. One use case expanding market access, a European payment institution wanted to launch in Sweden but lacked access to local rails. We enabled direct participation in the SEK clearing system providing settlement and account services, the result, faster payment, sharper pricing and a successful market entry.

Case 2, supporting regulated verticals, a regulated PSP serving crypto and [ cost clients ] struggled with banking access due to heightened compliance barriers. Through enhanced due diligence and continuous monitoring on our end, we enabled them to onboard only reputable customers, fully compliant and audit ready. The result stable banking access, renewed credibility and accelerated growth. That's what payment does, transform regulatory friction or burden into a competitive edge. So where does it all lead? Wholesale Banking, as I said, is now a dual-engine growth platform.

Secured debt delivers high-yield asset-backed returns disciplined, profitable and repeatable, Payment Services scales, recurring, capital-light income, the kind that compounds quite powerfully. Together, these engines reinforce each other. Every deal, every client, every flow strengthens our system. We are building a business defined by ownership, accountability and speeds where teams don't wait for permission, they move, decide and deliver. The next chapter is about scaling what works with precision, discipline and confidence.

Our target is clear: a compound annual growth rate above 50% in EBT through 2028. Ambitious, but it's built on proof, not promises and a model that's already delivering. We will get there the same way we always have by turning clarity into conviction conviction into momentum and momentum into results. Thank you very much. Back to you, Adam.

Thank you, Alain. We have now heard about our history, our strategy and an update from our business units. We would now like to synthesize this into financials. With that, I give the word to CFO, Bernd Egger.

Good afternoon, everybody. Hello again. My name is Bernd Egger, and I'm pleased to take you through the finance section of our Capital Markets Day. More specifically, I will talk about historic financial performance, our financial view on value creation and our targets and capital market guidance going forward, covering the period from '26 to '28. Let me, first of all, talk about the Multitude investment case.

What are the basics of our investment case? There are 4 pillars that we consider extremely important to us. Number one, we are growing fintech with strong, scalable business models and an expanding European footprint. Secondly, we are highly resilient. We have demonstrated the ability to perform on the challenging circumstances. Number three, we are a market leader when it comes to servicing overlooked customers and clients. Number four, we are increasingly profitable, thanks to our disciplined execution of our strategy to cost efficiency and to outstanding credit risk management.

And finally, we are dividend paying. Together, these factors form a simple but powerful story. Growth resilience, profitability and shareholder returns. The story is backed by consistent performance track record. Let us now talk about our growth drivers. Diversification has become a decisive factor for us. I'm referring to geographic and business diversification. We operate across multiple European markets, servicing consumers and SME customers as well as institutional asset-based clients.

Over the past 3 years, we have delivered a revenue CAGR of 5.4% between '21 and '24, accelerating to 11.3% between 2022 and '24. Over the past 2 years, on a 9-month basis, Consumer Banking revenues increased by 4%, SME banking revenues increased by 53% and Wholesale Banking revenues increased by 394%. Whilst all 3 businesses have been growing over this period, revenue share of the younger businesses, Wholesale Banking and Capital Box almost doubled from 12% to 21.4%. This is a strong performance achieved during a period of volatile macroeconomic environment and increased complexity in an evolving regulatory framework.

Let us discuss how this growth momentum effectively translates into profitability. On profitability trajectory has been very clear and very strong. Since 2021, our net profit has increased almost 17-fold, reflecting a CAGR of 156%, up until '24 or a CAGR of 103% based on our '25 Capital Market guidance. This performance is driven by consistent improvement across all businesses with each single business unit currently performing better than last year.

In order to get there, we focused on operating leverage and efficiency on improving risk-adjusted returns and on disciplined funding and capital allocation. That combination has lifted profitability structurally not just temporarily. I would like to briefly evaluate historical performance relative to capital market guidance. My key message here is essentially about credibility, the foundation of any investment case. Over the past several years, Multitude has consistently delivered on its capital market guidance year after year without a single exception.

From '21 to '24, we have met our EUR 20 million EBIT, the target metric back then, target in '21. We have successfully achieved the target of increasing EBIT by 50% each single year from EUR 20 million in $21 to EUR 30 million in '22 to EUR 45 million in '23; and finally, to EUR 67.5 million in '24. For 2025, those of you who attended a 9-month earnings call a little bit more than an hour ago, already know, we are on track to achieve our 2025 guidance of a net profit in the range between EUR 24 million and EUR 26 million.

After 9 months, we are at EUR 20.3 million, which is already now slightly above the full year's profit of 2024, and we are approaching an all-time high in terms of net profit. This track record is not coincidental. It reflects a consistent, managerial approach. We set ambitious data-driven targets. We execute with focus, we continuously adapt to changing market conditions. In short, for more than 4 years now, we have performed and delivered. That's our standard for ourselves also going forward. Now looking ahead, what is to be expected and how will we make it.

This chart outlines our path forward. We intend to more than double net profit from around EUR 20 million last year to above EUR 43 million by 2028. Our profitability focus areas will be: first, growth in revenues and other proceeds. We see healthy demand across all our business units. We are pushing recurring fee income from close to 0 last year to more than EUR 10 million expected in 2025, and we expect growing contributions from strategic investments. Second, cost efficiency initiatives will further strengthen profitability.

We are driving automation across the organization, investing in AI and data analytics. And we are simplifying structures to achieve leaner operations. We have cut a number of legal entities in our group in half. We are operating with almost 250 employees less than several years ago, and we still see a lot of opportunities in raising efficiency levels. Third, we continue to focus on derisking of assets, enhanced risk management, better scoring models and refined portfolio composition should reduce credit losses and performance volatility and credit losses going forward, improving profit scalability, stability and predictability. And finally, funding cost reduction is expected to give us a major cost leverage.

We are reducing dependency on third-party deposit channels, and we are optimizing our cost of funds across geographical markets. In summary, our profit growth trajectory is aspirational, but we are determined to achieve it, especially as it is grounded in tangible, measurable actions across all profit focus areas.

Together, these drivers form a clear value-creation road map towards more than doubling our net profit by 2028. Let me briefly elaborate on profit composition. In terms of business units contribution, it is our target to achieve balanced diversification of net profit.

Our profit profile is expected to evolve from a somewhat concentrated earnings base in the past to a very well-diversified profit mix by 2028. In '24, our Consumer Banking business accounted for about [ EUR 146 million ] of consolidated profit. Wholesale Banking constituted and contributed around EUR 2 million or roughly 5%, while SME banking was in loss-making phase, resulting in negative contribution to group earnings.

By '28, this picture is designed to look fundamentally different. We expect all business units to be net profit accretive from 2026 onwards. We will develop our businesses into a balanced multi-engine growth generator and profit generator. Important to note, our highly profitable consumer business will remain a strong and stable profit generator with an expected profit CAGR of 10%. On top, we expect to see a relative shift in profit weights to maturing SME business and to scaling wholesale segment.

So we are aiming for significant higher profits, but we are also up for high-quality sustainable and derisked profits down the road. Let me talk about profit driving factors. Turning to operating leverage. This slide operates how scale and efficiency will become an increasingly powerful driver of profitability. Our goal is to reduce cost to income ratio from historic levels around 60% a couple of years ago and current levels around 48%, down to around 40% by 2028. This improvement does not just reflect cost savings or cost cutting but structural efficiency, the ability to grow income faster than expenses.

The group operates on a centralized technology platform, meaning incremental volume can be processed with minimal additional cost. Several levers will be driving operating leverages, automation and AI integration by streamlining operations and reducing manual workload, digital processes and extended data-driven decision-making, elimination of noncore activities, focus on highest return businesses and a lean, scalable group structure with clear ownership and accountability.

Now let me briefly move on to asset quality. Asset quality and credit risk management have historically been a success story. We managed to improve our asset quality significantly. I'm referring to lending and investment portfolios when I talk about assets. We reduced credit losses measured as a percentage of lending and wholesale banking investment portfolio by more than 50% in only 3 years.

We are confident that we will succeed in reducing credit losses further. The key success factors will be advanced risk management technology, including integration of new data sources, permanently enhanced scoring and underwriting systems and portfolio composition that reflects our ambition to derisk portfolios and to focus on recurring client relationships.

On funding as a performance booster cost efficiency is the target. As we are operating our own bank, the key proposition is deposit first. Our deposits to debt capital market instruments ratio is meanwhile around 10:1 compared to 1:1 about 5 years ago. Our deposit strategy going forward is gradual shift from third-party deposits, provide us to own deposit sourcing, geographical diversification, establishment of our own deposit sourcing channels in several markets.

Our deposit target is to achieve increasing autonomy and decreasing expenses. In addition to deposit funding, we will remain active on debt and hybrid capital markets. This will include IFRS equity instruments and regulatory instruments. We are considering going to market soon to support our growth with capital, which naturally will be announced separately.

Now finally, let me briefly talk about return expectations. Capital allocation and capital return are amongst the most decisive topics for us going forward. We have decided to introduce an operational target. Technically, it's not a capital market guidance, but nonetheless, it's important. We are aiming at a return on tangible equity above 20% by 2028, coming from around 12.2% in 2024. By achieving this, we would set us apart from a significant number of regulated financial service providers in the market. This gets me to my last point, a combined view on operational targets and on capital market guidance for the future.

I would like to summarize as follows. We confirm our net profit guidance for this year, EUR 24 million to EUR 26 million. We also confirm EUR 30 million net profit for 2026. For '27 and '28, we issued a new guidance of 20% annual net profit growth from the previously announced '26 targets. This would get us to a net profit of EUR 36 million in '27 and EUR 43.2 million for 2028. By '28, our operational targets are a cost-income ratio of 40% and a return on tangible equity above 20%.

Our operational business targets are Consumer Banking, 10% EBT CAGR over the period up until '28, Wholesale Banking, 50% EBT CAGR over the same period, up until '28. Capital Box positive single-digit million euro EBT in '26 and from there on, 50% EBT CAGR over the period, again, up until 2028. Obviously, please note that all guidance metrics and operational targets will be subject to adjustments for one-off and negatively disruptive events.

This concludes the financial Capital Markets Day presentation. We hope you found this of interest, and we are looking forward to our Q&A session. Adam, passing on to you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, that concludes our financial section of the Capital Markets Day. And now we would like to welcome back up on stage the presenters of today, and when we open up our Q&A again. [Operator Instructions] . We have a couple of questions from the previous session, which we can continue with.

One is on cost-to-income ratio, Antti. More specifically comparing us to peers, without going into the detail, what are the measures that we will take to become more competitive on the cost-to-income ratio front?

That's a good question. I believe the main thing -- or the couple of main things we do in order to get to the lower cost-income ratios. We will further continue optimization of our processes. This is extremely important. We are using AI already in lots of our functions, even in small processes, but we are not there yet. We have to roll out AI capabilities. We have to roll out more automization and just simply do things smarter. We have quite good cost control in the group already. And this is what we continue doing in the future as well.

Yes, Indeed. There was 1 notice that there was a drop in the interest income in Western Europe in the -- in Q3, Bernd, what was the dynamics behind this?

There's not one single factor. On the 1 hand side, and Kristjan has pointed this out in his presentation, we are adjusting products in some of our markets in order to accelerate and increase stickiness going forward, improved profitability going forward. There are some Western European countries amongst those. So that's one driver.

Driver number two, it's a shift from interest income to fee income. Fee income has increased in Western Europe by EUR 1.2 million in Q3. And factor number three, we have sold some businesses. We're still providing services. This is where the fee is coming from. At the same time, we generate earnout, and that what we can debate about IFRS, but it's just not reflected in revenue, but it's treated differently. Happy to go into more detail in one of the earnings calls, but those are the 3 factors behind that.

Thank you. Question from Harald Hof from mwb Research. Many thanks for the in-depth insights. I'm compiling and consolidating the EBT growth rates and doing the math. Is an EBT over EUR 60 million in 2028, correctly understood, have I done this correctly?

I think what he's doing, if I interpret that correctly, [indiscernible] the businesses separately and then the CAGR 10% and the 2 others with 50%. Yes, from a directional answer, yes, that is correct. The logic is that our guidance is for the 3, the logic is also that should one of those of our business units not really get to the ambitious really, obviously, very ambitious targets, we are still should be able to meet our guidance. So those aspirational targets are not all in targets, primary -- #1 target is the guidance. And number two, targets are the operational targets for the businesses.

Next question, quite technical. How do you define the -- the question is ROCE, but [indiscernible] ROTE, tangible equity in multitude. Is it net results over net equity without a perpetual interest rates? Or how is it Bernd?

Yes. That's partly the case. So we take the EUR 200 million equity that we have, we deduct the perpetual instrument. We deduct intangible assets around about EUR 32 million, EUR 33 million. That's the base. And we take net profit. But in order to compare like-for-like, we are also deducting interest paid to perpetual bond holders. So in the end, it is profit that can be attributed to shareholders in relation to shareholder equity.

And the final question that we have currently is how do we see the dividend payout ratio forward?

I think at the of end of the day, the shareholder meeting maybe decide that one. But I think, of course,

Well, naturally, I don't want to and cannot preempt any shareholder decisions at the later point of time. From my perspective, just 2 sentences, we have given an indication, 25% to 50% of net profit. We've done that in the past. Naturally, we want to keep the balance between making our shareholders dividend [indiscernible] shareholders happy. So we're sticking to that. At the same time, we need to make sure that we have the capital to grow. This is what we need to balance.

We've paid out EUR 9.4 million dividend last year, 2 components, 25% in the end, plus an extra getting us to 44%, something like that. So definitely, without promising anything investors should expect would expect, might expect, similar behavior going forward?

Exactly. And I think it's -- and I think like Bernd said thinking process is there, that 25% is like a base number. And then we had used it on the every year. And I think as a management and Board make the decision and the proposal and then the shareholder meeting will decide that one. But I think that's the magnitude where we are looking to go in there. So keep the dividends payout ratio ratio pretty high between 25% and 50%.

Yes. Thank you. Antte, could you shed some light on what positive effects we will see from the expansion of the deposit business and what we are currently doing there? And what makes -- the question is what makes us so confident that we're able to refinance almost 80% of the business through your own deposits in the future. I assume that refers to our own channels.

So thank you, Adam. This is quite simple. Roughly 2 years ago, or even less, we were pretty reliant on online deposit platforms, which means that over 90% of our deposits were coming through brokerage type of deposit taking. We have now built our own deposit taking channels in 4 different countries, plus what we have taken also from our mobile banking unit.

And we have now managed to turn that over already within around 12 months, a bit more than 12 months from over 90% from platform business, external platform business to less than 60% from the platform business. And we really do see that we can turn this -- our momentum is now in many countries. And our own internal deposit taking is really effective. We have good rates and, of course, different regulatory ratios are beneficial for us when we take these deposits to our own channels.

I'm extremely confident that this is one of the targets we can absolutely make.

Yes. Very good. I believe we have some audio questions, operator.

And now we're going to take our first question. And the question comes from line of Roni Peuranheimo from Inderes.

So you talked about growing the growth platform with, for example, M&A. Do you find the unit structure relevant, like if you would, for example, theoretically see that Capital Box wouldn't be able to increase its profitability, would like divestments be realistic in any way? Would you consider those? Should I take it that one?

Antti

I can start with this. So obviously, we are happy with the businesses we have today. So with Mantvydas in Capital Box Alain in Multitude Bank and Kristjan in Consumer Banking, I'm personally really confident we can make these numbers. How the company will look like in 5 years I cannot tell that's something for the Board to steer forward. But at the moment, we are extremely happy in where we are. Jorma, do you want to?

Yes, I think, of course, the platform whole idea on the platform is that it's operate as a platform. So it's a company, its business, what is in the platform. They have to support in each other. So they have to have like a synergy. They have to have a logic, how we as a Multitude can bring them support through our AI tools or the technology or data or the market understanding and then, of course, the benefits through the cross-selling the customers.

And I think that's a very important element on the platform. We have 2 or we have a 2 different options behind there. One option is that we see that some company or some business units are not fully fitting anymore the platform, we can always deinvestment that one. I mean that's always option but I think we can always think about as well like a partial like treated those as like associated investment. That's always like a second option there as well. But I think like a management say, I think currently, we don't have a -- we don't have any plans or the thoughts on the investment in any of our 3 business, what is the fully owned. And we rather keep the focus more to look at the new opportunities on the entry in the Multitude platform as it is 2 different.

Of course. I was just thinking hypothetically. That was a good answer. So maybe about the Lea Bank investments. Now it's been more than a year since you announced the first investment. So how has your cooperation developed? And have you found any concrete ways to do business together? And do you plan to increase the stake still? Do you need to do a mandatory buyout offer if you would pass some limit?

Jorma being responsible for our M&A in the new role. So please, Jorma.

I think as I look at the Lea Bank investments in the 3 different ways. I think we have -- of course, our investment in the Lea bank have splitting on multiple different steps and reaching the 30% stake, it's taken like a [ half year ] time. Currently, we do not have any ideas to go the beyond of that one. What this mean that what's the trigger on the mandatory bidding on the -- all shareholders. So we do not have any of that type of the thoughts or ideas on the table.

If we look at cooperation, cooperation, you can split it in 3 different ways. We have as official channels. We have a nomination [indiscernible] seed as -- and that's the way how we can impact for the Leabank as a listed company as well. The competition and what have the talent and competence we see it's relevant for the Leabank future business strategy. That's one way. The second way is, of course, the active dialogue with the management for helping them on the shaping the strategy and direction there. And then the third option or third way how we're doing cooperation is that we are based in our platform strategy. We are very available for the Lea Bank management to share our data and to share our competence and understanding on the market and of course, look in the cross-selling opportunities on the market there as well. And all of those, we are working on quite actively there. I don't believe there is anything to say as precisely as today, but I'm sure we will come to tell that as well when the time is right. .

All right. You talked a lot about fee income growth. So maybe just to kind of get some thoughts on like what absolute level would be realistic in terms of fee income at the end of strategic period? Like what are you targeting at?

Bernd?

Looking at my direction. Well, in the end, I think we have those who follow us -- have been following us for longer know that we have been pursuing fee income for long. Now we will be most likely above EUR 10 million this year. We expect fee income to be a significant part of our profit generation. We spoke about capital allocation. The second reason why we want to push. It's a little bit difficult to give absolute numbers, but it's going to be -- it's here to stay and it's meant to be a significant revenue and profit generator going forward.

And now we're going to take our next question. And that comes from the line of [indiscernible] from NuWays.

Thanks guys for a very convincing CMD presentation. Bernd showed an interesting slide where impairment levels versus the portfolio would be at 5% in 2028. As you're improving the loan book quality, aren't you slowly stepping away from the over customers' business? Or is there also a limit to this?

If I may just to be precise, what does it mean to be in a business with overlooked customers? That doesn't mean necessarily that we are high credit risk business on that perspective. So -- our business is well diversified. We have unsecured, we have secured business. We have fee income business. It means that we are bringing value to customers in a form of speed, convenience and now and then customers might have issues with their own banks for one or another reason, and it doesn't have to be anything risk related. So of course, the interest rate environment in Europe as well is changing, and it has changed

But we've been able to manage the credit risk until now really good, and we see that we are continuing on the same trend and the same part. I don't see that we are anyway moving away from the businesses we have been into. We are expanding and making an evolution to different business avenues as well.

And maybe if I can shortly a little bit add it a flavor here, it's -- I think it's a really good point what you want to say that I think overlook customers are not -- it's not the only question of the interest rate pricing it. There is a lot of use case where the customers are underserved or not served like overlooked by Main Street banks. And that is our segment in all different business units. I think one additional element, what's important as well is our portfolio diversification.

So if we [indiscernible] our business by today, and we looking back to 3 years back, its portfolio have a diversified much more in the different type of the customers as well as wholesale banking unit is totally new, that's totally created during the last 3 years.

Thank you. We will end with 1 final question, which is if we can provide some more insights in our contemplated transactions that you mentioned in your presentation, Bernd

There are a number of instruments that appear to be attractive to us. We have successfully issued [ Tier 2 ] transaction. So in the end, a nondilutive capital instrument on that level of the bank. We have more than 22% total capital on the level of the bank, 22.5% net equity ratio on a consolidated level. So we have some more than 400 basis points headroom.

At the same time, we are ambitious when it comes to growth. This is why nondilutive capital or equity instruments are of interest to us. This could go into the direction of -- we have a perpetual bond outstanding. We might increase that, work on this one. It could be an option. Additional Tier 1 is an instrument on the level of the bank that we have not issued in the past. So those are the options we're thinking of.

Thank you. For any further questions, don't hesitate to reach out to Investor Relations team. We will happily answer all your questions. That concludes the Q&A session, and we would like to have some final key takeaways presented by Antte Kumpulainen.

Good. Thank you, Jorma, Kristjan, Mantvydas, Bernd and Adam. And of course, thank you all of you for being there here today and listening to our plans for the road ahead. Before we really end today's Capital Markets Day, I just want to highlight a few key takeaways from all of what you just heard. Firstly, earlier today, we confirmed our guidance for 2025 and introduced a new target of achieving a 20% annual increase in net profit through 2028. Secondly, we are executing our 3-pillar growth model, which consists of organic growth, partnerships and M&A. That's a clear and proven framework, which is driving our growth ambitions and the team here will deliver on that.

Thirdly, we continue to focus on the use of data, AI and automation across all of our processes no matter how small it is. And this also answers the question we just received during the Q&A, how are we going to get our cost-to-income ratio down. That's one part of it, an important one. These initiatives, combined with our strong credit risk capabilities, will further improve efficiency and reduce cost. Fourth, we remain committed to serving the growing customer segments often overlooked by Main Street banks continuing to deliver sustainable value creation for the customers and to you, our investors.

All of this keeps us firmly on track towards our ambition of becoming a EUR 1 billion valued company. I wish you all a great day, and thank you for your attention.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you. Well done.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Multitude's combined event of 9 months earnings call and our Capital Markets Day, where we will deep dive into our strategy and our business units. First of all, I would like to apologize for our short -- for our slight delay for technical reasons. My name is Adam Hansson-Tönning. I'm the Head of IR and Treasury at Multitude, and I will be your host today. Our team is very excited to be here today and to provide an update on our businesses and to stake out the road until 2028.

We will kick off our agenda today by having an update from our 9 months ended from Multitude's CEO, Antti Kumpulainen; and CFO, Bernd Egger. Following the 9 months presentation, we will move on to our Capital Markets Day agenda.

Antti, the stage is yours.

Thank you, Adam, and welcome to our Q3 2025 earnings call. My name is Antti Kumpulainen, and I am the CEO of Multitude Group. During this call, I will walk you through Multitude's earnings call and results for the third quarter of 2025 with our CFO, Mr. Bernd Egger.

The first 3 quarters of 2025 has been a strong statement in increasing the profitability and diversifying our revenue streams. Today, we want to share with you some key takeaways after the third quarter of 2025. First, our revenue continued to be stable with a small growth and was almost EUR 196 million. Secondly, we continued our strong net profit growth by increasing it by 59.3%, to EUR 20.3 million. Third, impairment losses on loans continued to decrease by 16.5%, or over EUR 12 million year-on-year. Fourth, we increased our stake in Lea Bank, to a total stake of 29.47%. And fifth, simplifying our structures is on a good progress, and we are reducing the number of legal entities by 1/3 during 2025.

Let's take a closer look at the performance of the first 9 months. Multitude continued on a stable revenue trajectory and a strong profit improvement through third quarter. We also managed to further improve the asset quality. Revenue was stable, almost at EUR 196 million, and our net profit increased once again with almost 60%, to EUR 20.3 million. Our loans and investments portfolio grew by 21% year-on-year, showing that the demand on the market is still strong.

The good trend in impairment losses continued, and we saw a decrease of 16.5%, or EUR 12 million year-on-year. We have seen this trend already for a longer time, thanks to our robust risk management capabilities and continuous improvement in our scorecards and underwriting practices. Reducing the number of legal entities in the Multitude Group by 1/3 during this year is well on track, and this indeed simplifies and streamlines our organizational structure going forward.

We have also invested more in Lea Bank shares, and our stake has increased to 29.47%, and we are still the largest shareholder in Lea Bank. Together with Lea Bank, we continue to explore and prepare strategic cooperation between the two companies.

Going forward, we have clear focus. We are focusing on growing our business through our three pillars: organic growth, partnerships and also through M&A opportunities, maintaining the high asset quality going forward, and further digitalize and automate our operations with extensive use of AI and data. Going forward, we are also -- the target is to achieve our net profit guidance of EUR 24 million to EUR 26 million in 2025.

Let's look at the business units. We will start with Consumer Banking, Ferratum. Revenue development was stable year-on-year, and we see a slight uplift in profitability. Team in Consumer Banking focused on keeping the asset quality in line with the portfolio growth, well done. From new products, German credit card is mentionable with a successful rollout to the market. Portfolio in size of net AR kept on growing with more than 8% year-on-year.

Main focus for Consumer Banking going forward is on organic growth, partnerships and M&A, are also interesting in bringing the added growth. Products bringing recurring fee revenue is really, really high focus area for Consumer Banking. As in all other businesses and functions in Multitude, also Consumer Banking continues to work with streamlining and enhancing the processes and increasing stability with use of AI, data and increased automization. Target for year 2025 for Consumer Banking is an EBT growth of 5%, and we are at a good pace for that, as you can see.

Next up is our business unit from CapitalBox, the Business Banking. Revenue grew by 5.7%, to EUR 26 million, which was below our set expectations for the reporting period. Though we see that the impairments continue to further decrease by almost 29%, and that is a really good achievement, but still slightly less than we expected to happen. EBT performance continued to improve, and losses have been reduced by whopping 70% year-on-year. Further positive sign on CapitalBox was that the month of September, the last month in the Q3, was profitable. Portfolio structure also changed in line with the plans, and secured loans portfolio in CapitalBox is now almost 1/3 of the net AR. This we see as a proof of strong demand in the market for such a product going forward. It also diversifies the revenue streams in CapitalBox.

Full focus for the team in CapitalBox is now on growth, profitability and scalability. The same focus areas as in Consumer Banking, is partnerships, M&A opportunities, they are further explored. Target for the full year is to deliver double-digit growth and to be profitable on a quarterly basis in the second half of the year.

Then finally, our newest business unit, Wholesale Banking, which has been able to show strong profitable growth in its institutional client base. Growth in Wholesale Banking has been strong and profitable, that's important to us. Asset quality remains strong, thanks to carefully selected customers. Revenue grew by a bit over 82% and EBT, the growth has been rapid being at EUR 1.8 million after 9 months of 2025. Net AR growth was a bit shy of 80% year-on-year, and the portfolio reached over EUR 200 million end of September. Payment Services, the second part of Wholesale Banking unit, are bringing the fee revenue by servicing its client of electronic money institutions, payment institutions.

We added a new client in the third quarter of the year and more is on the way on the well-established pipeline. Focus remains the same as earlier this year in further scaling up the business, reach to more clients and close the existing pipeline. Target of reaching EBT north of EUR 4 million is still intact.

Now I'm ready to hand over to Bernd, who will tell you about the financial performance. All yours, Bernd.

Thank you very much, Antti. Good afternoon to you all, and thank you for your interest in Multitude's earnings call covering 9 months 2025 results. After 9 months of this year, my simple conclusion on performance is, very strong profitability metrics. Growth is a positive and will be a focus area going forward. There is a little bit of room for improvement as regards to growth. We confirm our capital market guidance for this year, the range between EUR 24 million and EUR 26 million, and you will recall that we actually increased this guidance earlier this year. Driving focus behind these strong developments were solid overall growth dynamics with some upside potential, I've mentioned that, continued improvement in credit risk management with really impressive numbers, scalability of the organization.

Let's go into more detail and take a look at our 9-month P&L. The key message on P&L performance for 9 months is the following. Message number one, financial performance is characterized by robust overall growth dynamics. We will look into the key drivers of the growth, especially when it comes to Wholesale Banking business and CapitalBox, but also the fee business increase in the consumer business a little bit later. The increase in fee income is perfectly in line with the monetization strategy we have been pursuing and pushing over the last couple of years.

Message number two, all actions taken to improve credit risk performance over the last 6 quarters essentially are paying off. A very positive trend is being continued.

Message number three on profit, the organization is scalable. At the same time, we invest in future growth. These two factors, efficiency on the one hand side make sure that we have profitable growth and growth on the other hand side, this balance determines the cost development now and also in '26.

Let's go into more detail on the financial key performance metrics. Revenue comprising interest income and fee income. 9 months interest income, EUR 186 million -- EUR 187 million, which is a small drop of 3.8%, or EUR 7.3 million lower than last year. At the same time, we see a very significant increase in fee income, driving total revenue up to EUR 196 million, which represents an increase by EUR 1.7 million, or 1%.

Fee income increased from EUR 50,000 9 months '24, to EUR 9.3 million this year. We've been pursuing this strategy for many, many years. Now it's paying off. This is, in turn, driven by meanwhile, three factors: one, partnership businesses in Consumer Banking, EUR 7.7 million; secondly, payment business in Wholesale Banking, EUR 1.6 million; and the residual amount is related to service fees to an external partner, basically a Banking-as-a-Service service that we're selling to new partners. These monetization models are in line with our platform and our partnership strategy as we had communicated over the last 2 years.

Interest expense and net interest income, let me briefly elaborate. Interest expenses in relative terms increased by around about 10% compared to last year. That's an increase of -- from EUR 30 million to EUR 33 million. This is driven by business volume and by new regulatory capital that we have taken in. Multitude Bank has successfully placed a EUR 25 million Tier 2 instrument earlier this year, and that is going to help us, '26, and later also in terms of future growth.

Interest expense increase is absolute -- in absolute numbers has been partly offset by gradually reducing relative deposit funding costs. So here, we are not there yet, but we are absolutely on the right track. This results in net interest income of EUR 158.3 million for the first 9 months of the year, which compares to EUR 163.8 million for the same period last year, a drop by 6.4%.

Foreign exchange and hedging results are slightly lower than last year and pretty much on the same level as budgeted.

Pro rata profit share from investment in associates has increased significantly. Meanwhile, we reflect around about EUR 2 million for the first 9 months net profit impact from our investments in associates. And after positive impact from other income and expenditures, sorry, some EUR 2 million. This results in a net operating income of EUR 163 million for the first 9 months of the year. This is an increase by EUR 1.5 million, or 1%.

I would like to move on to my second point when it comes to key drivers. This is credit loss performance. This has been a top priority for the full year '24 and for '25. Credit risk performance has improved very significantly during the -- during the year '24 and also during '25 first half. Now the trend is continuing also in Q3. Credit losses for 9 months '25 came in at EUR 61.5 million. This is a drop of more than EUR 12 million, EUR 12.1 million to be precise, 16.5% below 2024 level. We will go into a little bit more detail on credit losses as we move on.

Personnel expenses increased slightly, 7.5%, but that is an investment in future growth in the end and reflects variable compensation components. Operational expenses, extremely important for us, scalability, a slight increase to EUR 28.6 million. But again, this is largely driven by growth of business, deposit compensation scheme and other growth-related drivers. Depreciation expenses, marketing, other expenses, de facto flat compared to last year. Overall, our ambition going forward is to improve cost efficiency while not holding back on growth opportunities.

Now let me analyze how these developments in revenue, financial expenses, credit losses and operational expenses translate into profitability metrics for 9 months. Profit before tax increasing massively from EUR 14.7 million to EUR 23.3 million. This is an increase in profit before tax by EUR 8.6 million, almost 60%. Effective tax rate, same level, 13%. This gets us to EUR 20.3 million net profit, and EUR 20.3 million net profit is essentially already now above -- slightly above the level of the full year 2024. So we are approaching without promising too much at this stage, all-time high for the year '25 in terms of net profitability.

Moving on to balance sheet metrics. Cash increased by some 24%. That is a logical consequence of taking in deposits in order to be -- in a position to grow. Main drivers are deposit increase and the regulatory capital that we issued. Loans and investment portfolio increased by EUR 118 million, so right on track in terms of growth dynamics. Other financial assets increased by some EUR 32 million. This is mainly driven by two factors. One is cooperation with a strategic partner, so receivables from portfolio sales and the other one is an effect of sold businesses. Finally, investments in associates, as Antti pointed out, we increased our stake. We currently hold 29.47% in Lea Bank, which is reflected in the balance sheet.

Let me briefly move on to equity and liabilities. Here, development is perfectly in line with the strategy that we pursue deposits first. Deposits are the main source of funding. Deposit base increased to around about EUR 980 million. Debt securities increased. I spoke about that already. This is related to a Tier 2 instrument that we issued on the level of the bank. Finally, equity at end of 9 months, we are, for the first time, above EUR 200 million equity, a very solid net equity ratio of 22.5%. So there is room to move and room to grow.

Let us move on and take a look at performance on the level of the segments or tribes. I will start with Consumer Banking. In short, Ferratum is seeing a gradual shift in revenue composition from interest income to fee income. We see a slight drop in interest revenue, but very happy to announce that we see a EUR 7.7 million increase in the fee income of Ferratum. This is a positive momentum we want to maintain. Part of revenue drop is attributable to sale of some businesses. Some other factors include product adjustments, resulting in a temporary revenue reduction.

Now finally, on credit loss impairments, Ferratum, very strong performance. Credit loss impairments is being around EUR 10 million lower than last year, minus 16%, so really top performance. Operational expenses, Ferratum, very well under control, scalable business, all very well on track. Profit before tax, EUR 23.4 million, around about EUR 800,000 above last year's level.

I would now like to continue with CapitalBox. We see a top line growth -- revenue growth of close to 6%, up to EUR 26.1 million. Credit loss is down very significantly. So all the ambitions from last year paying off, minus 29% from EUR 11.1 million, to EUR 7.9 million despite the fact that portfolio was bigger by almost EUR 36 million compared to last year. Cost, following integration of the acquired Danish factoring business and efficiency initiatives, OpEx is now on a lower level at CapitalBox than last year, minus EUR 2.1 million, to EUR 14.1 million. So also very well on track. Growth is obviously the key factor going forward.

As a consequence of higher revenues, reduced credit losses and lower cost levels, the EBT contribution has improved significantly compared to last year from minus EUR 9.2 million, to minus EUR 2.7 million. This means we have cut off 70% of losses. Our target is to be, as you know, EBT positive on a quarterly basis still this year. This will be a stretch. We're not giving up on this target, but it is definitely going to be a stretch for this year.

Let me conclude my review of the business units' performance with Wholesale Banking, very positive revenue, up, to EUR 15.8 million, comparing to EUR 8.7 million last year, so almost doubling. This is driven by both increase in interest income, plus 63% and again, super important for us, incremental fee income, EUR 1.6 million compared to last year.

Credit loss performance is a collateralized business. So we are building up some reserves, but they are mainly to be seen as a buffer. Hence, they increased by EUR 1.3 million compared to last year. Cost structure, obviously, is an investment case. So we are making sure we have the resources in place. OpEx increasing slightly less than 50%, fully in line with our business strategy and our business plans. Overall, very promising performance, EBT positive at EUR 1.8 million, and EUR 1.5 million of that essentially generated in Q3.

Now let us move on and very briefly talk about credit and loss. Credit loss performance, asset quality, I will not go into much detail. You are familiar with these slides. We will also talk about credit loss performance in the Capital Markets Day presentation. So key message here is, asset quality continues to improve. Also on the next slide, we are now at 2% level already. So a very significant improvement compared to last year. And that is actually measuring -- here, we're measuring credit losses in comparison to the portfolio size.

Now let me take a look at the funding structure. A couple of positive notes here as well. Weighted average cost of debt funding is gradually decreasing. We are back below 4%, so right on track. We don't have any upcoming repayments. So that is perfectly fine.

And I will be concluding my presentation with that and handing back to you, Adam.

Thank you. So with that, we open up for our Q&A session on the 9 months results.

And we have a voice line open. Operator, are you on the line for instructions on how to dial in?

Yes, off course. [Operator Instructions]. And we have now the first question comes on audio. The question from the line of Julius Neittamo from NuWays.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you well, Julius.

So congratulations on the results. I'd like to know -- so there was a significant drop in net interest income this quarter, which I assume is on the back of the lagged effect of decreased interest rates. Do you see the drop already somewhat stabilizing going forward? Or should we expect more?

Thank you for the question, Julius. Just to paraphrase, you mentioned that we have a drop in the net interest income and whether that has stabilized going forward. Bernd, would you like to take that?

Yes, absolutely. I think there are three factors that we need to take into consideration. One is we've sold some businesses. This is a logical pursuit of our ambition to put more focus on recurring clients on credit line. So we are divesting when it comes to micro lending. This is one factor.

Factor number two, we have, and this is a process that we are actively driving, implemented product changes in a couple of markets, Germany is one, Sweden is one. And that is also something that is impacting net interest income or interest income per se. To be realistic, this will take a little bit of time to ramp up the businesses with the new products in those markets. But again, this follows a midterm strategy. It's not something where we are victim and just seeing what is going to happen. We are actively pursuing and driving this product change.

I would, in all honesty, assume that it would take 1 or 2 quarters to see revenues picking up. But I don't want to preempt the messages from the Capital Markets Day. But in terms of net profit development, and this is actually what we are after, we think that these activities and initiatives are going to be paying off.

Okay. And then I had another question regarding the partnership business. So in the fee and commission income, it looks like you're set to achieve a strong double-digit result for this year. I'd like to know what is the realistic upside for this revenue stream for the years to come? And do you have plans in replicating a similar partnership model than the one you have in Poland for, other countries, for example? Is that realistic?

Yes. I mean I can take this one. So definitely, we do see that these partnership models that we have in Poland at the moment would expand in the future as well. Is it in Poland or other countries? We are really actively looking and discussing with different partners around Europe. An exact figure, no, I will not tell you, but our ambition is really, really clear. We are increasing significantly the recurring fee income, either revenue either if it's from partnership side or organically within our products. So yes, the answer is that we will see our recurring fee income growing in the future.

[Operator Instructions] And we have one more audio question. And it comes from the line of Roni Peuranheimo from Inderes Oyj.

All right. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Absolutely.

All right. Roni Peuranheimo from Inderes. So in Q3, there was a EUR 2 million other income item in the P&L related to disposal of subsidiary. I assume this was a onetime item boosting the earnings. And should we expect any of this in the future? And how should we think about this?

Bernd, would you like to...

Yes, happy to take that. This is a very good question, Roni. I have to say. And there are at least three elements to the answer. Number one, yes, technically, this is a onetime effect. Number two, there are ancillary consequences to that. One is we are selling businesses, but to some of those, we remain engaged as a service provider, which means we will incur fees from some of those businesses. So there is a recurring element. And as just pointed out, any sort of recurring fee income is on the top of our agenda. And then secondly, indirectly, it's part of our cost reduction strategy -- of our efficiency strategy to reduce -- Antti has pointed out, reducing number of legal entities by 1/3 this year. So there are two positive effects going forward. And from a pure P&L perspective, the EUR 2 million is onetime.

Okay. And then maybe about the legal entities, reduction of those. So how much cost savings are you expecting from these two next year, for example?

This, you have to continue on Bernd.

Thank you. Yes. First of all, I think what is clear is that this is part of this mid- to long-term strategy. 1/3 is the number of entities by which we are going to reduce this year, 50% reduction in the midterm that we're actually going to complete by end of this year. I'm a little bit reluctant to quantify the exact number of what the cost effect is going to be. However, I would recommend to join us for the Capital Markets Day. We will specifically focus on our profit composition going forward and also on cost metrics, and that is a factor that directly relates to this discussion that we will be having in the Capital Markets Day.

Yes. I assume you're going to discuss the next year guidance as well since looking at the net interest income trend and the earnings trend in Consumer Banking, that next year's guidance seems somewhat maybe challenging. So can you talk about the drivers there? Or are we going to continue this on the CMD?

I think we should continue this in the CMD. And yes, we will comment on guidance for next year.

Yes. Maybe one more question about the business unit level target. So if you would reach those, I would assume you would end up above the guidance. So do you still see the business unit level target is realistic? Or do you see it unlikely that you would reach all of the targets for this year?

Well, the targets we have on a business unit level, they are targets we are really hard working on. And some of the targets might be a stretch, but this is the guidance we clearly have, and we are absolutely aiming to deliver our guidance. So we will see at the end of the year where we exactly are going to be. But you will get more flavor about this as well in 20 minutes or so when our business units will be presenting their cases one by one. But time tells, we are on track.

Yes. Operator, do we have any further audio questions?

Not at this moment. Therefore, please kindly proceed with any written questions.

Yes. Thank you. So we have two questions, which are of the same nature, on impairments. First one is from Harald Hof from MWB Research. The sharp increase in net profit was largely driven by lower credit losses and improved asset quality. How sustainable do you consider this trend, particularly as the company shifts towards secured products compared to the Consumer Banking business? Is 2% impairment losses over portfolio the bottom. Or is there more to come? Maybe we'll start with that one. Antti?

Yes. Of course, that's a trend line we are at the moment. Impossible to say what the floor is. But you're absolutely right that we have evolved our product composition in the business units. For instance, Wholesale Banking being fully secured. CapitalBox has evolved on top of the unsecured business, also secured lending business. So it is also natural that is shown in our results.

We see it somehow stable at the moment. And we -- the only thing about that I can comment from the trend side is that you can see the trend already from the past 2, 3 years that we have taken really robust actions and that that's now in the -- visible in the results. How long this and how deep will it go? I can't really comment. Trend is good.

Okay. On a similar note, we have a question on if we could provide some more color on the reduction impairments, if all parameters has been kept stable and the methodology the same, and I would like to hand that to Bernd.

Well, I think nothing is stable when it comes to credit risk management. It's a permanent technological improvement. The data sources that we are factoring in, the underwriting models, they are improving permanently. I mean we have 15 people in data science. Technology is improving. Access to data is improving. So that in itself makes it with the 20 years of experience that we have, quite likely that there will be a future benefit from this advancement. Number one.

Number two, we have not changed any models. So there are no onetime effects related to valuation, techniques or anything along those lines. We are in the process of changing models here and there, but that is something that might be relevant end of year, not at all impacting those numbers. So this is pure performance driven. And I think those are the two main statements I want to make on this.

Thank you. We have a question from Peter Irblad from Tiger Asset Management. Could you please provide some color on the Consumer Banking interest income development? You mentioned the sale and a different product mix. Can you elaborate did the German credit card launch have an impact?

The German credit cards definitely have an impact that we are growing the portfolio there. The composition, as we spoke already, has changed that we have sold some entities, which we are now also serving through service -- well, service agreements and are getting fee income from there as well. Germany has an impact. And then the whole revenue composition change is actually the main driver here.

Thank you. And the final question before we move on to the Capital Markets Day agenda. You have a lot of cash in the balance at the end of Q3. Is this really necessary to hold so much cash as this drives a lot of interest expense? And actually Bernd is well positioned to answer that.

Well, there are, again, two factors. One is, yes, we hold some EUR 300 million cash, so around a little bit more than 20% increase compared to last year. And by the way, we are also earning interest on that. So it's not only a cost factor. We have moved the business model a little bit from a highly granular business to more discretionary business when it comes to larger scale transaction in Wholesale Banking, and we don't want to delay any transactions. This means we need to have a cash buffer in order to be able to react to business opportunities without promising anything also other nondiscretionary transactions, M&A transactions is something we want to be prepared for. And finally, we are a little bit conservative, or I'm a little bit conservative maybe. We want to maintain a cash buffer in the organization. We will also briefly talk about in the Capital Markets Day, I recommend to join, talk a little bit about our deposit strategy, how we source deposits going forward in order to really make sure that we don't hold excess cash and get down interest expenses in '26 and beyond.

Thank you, Bernd.