CGD profit rises 2.5% to 1.43 billion euros as Macedo says housing fix will take years

Profit and peer comparison

Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) reported a profit of 1,434 million euros for January to September 2026, up 2.5% on the same period of 2025. The figures were presented on 5 November 2026 at the bank's new headquarters in Parque das Nações, Lisbon, the first results to be shown there. Activity in Portugal produced 1,306 million euros of that profit, up 1%, and return on equity held at 16.9%. The net interest margin fell 1% at group level to about 1.9 billion euros, while the cost-to-income ratio stood at 30.3%. Non-performing loans were 1.43% of the portfolio at the end of September, against 1.44% in December 2025.

Board member António Valente, who oversees finance, said the result rests on core activity rather than extraordinary factors. Recoveries in provisions and impairments reached 371 million euros, compared with 280 million a year earlier. Macedo set the bank against its rivals, noting that BCP reported 874 million euros and Santander Portugal 664 million for the same nine months.

“The result of Caixa is almost the sum of the other two banks that follow.”

Caixa Geral de Depósitos1,434

BCP874

Santander Portugal664

Caixa Geral de Depósitos

1434 € million

BCP

874 € million

Santander Portugal

664 € million

Data from the article text

Youth housing guarantee

Loans under the state guarantee scheme for buyers up to 35 years old have reached 3.1 billion euros since the scheme began operating in January 2025, of which about 1.7 billion euros were made in 2026. CGD said its share of this youth segment stood at 32.8% of 2026 production through September. The state guarantee covers up to 15% of a property's value and allows a bank to finance between 85% and 100% of the transaction, which may not exceed 450,000 euros. Contracts must be signed by 31 December 2026, and the 2027 state budget proposal, approved in principle and still under discussion in committee, would keep the measure in place. CGD's average housing loan is 162,000 euros, rising to 195,000 euros for borrowers under 35 and 225,000 euros for properties bought with the guarantee, with a default rate of 0.5%.

“Without the public guarantee for young people, we would have more people camping out.”

Macedo on the housing shortage

Macedo said the housing problem will take years to solve and that no single pair of measures will fix it. Citing the Banco de Portugal, he put the shortage at 300,000 homes and said Portugal will not build that many in two or three years. He called the rise in prices not normal and attributed it mainly to more than a million people arriving in six or seven years, while Observador, citing the INE index, put recent quarterly increases at close to 20%. He expects prices to fall only slowly while demand from mostly young buyers outstrips supply, and said prices at the very top of the market will follow international trends. He favours a mix of affordable rents, public housing at controlled prices, a more predictable rental market for landlords, faster licensing, and agreements with municipalities such as Porto and Matosinhos.

“I am more worried about cybersecurity risk than about housing credit risk.”

Overseas units, dividends and the new headquarters

Overseas operations contributed 127 million euros. BCI Mozambique led with 54 million, followed by BNU Macau with 41 million, BCG Angola with 20 million, the French branch with 9 million and other markets with 4 million.

BCI Mozambique54

BNU Macau41

BCG Angola20

French branch9

Other markets4

BCI Mozambique

54 € million

BNU Macau

41 € million

BCG Angola

20 € million

French branch

9 € million

Other markets

4 € million

Data from the article text

CGD has paid the state 1.5 billion euros in dividends and corporate income tax so far in 2026 and expects that figure to reach 1.66 billion by year-end. Payments were 1.78 billion euros in 2025 and 1.66 billion in 2024.

20241.66

20251.78

2026 (year-end forecast)1.66

2024

1.66 € billion

2025

1.78 € billion

2026 (year-end forecast)

1.66 € billion

Data from the article text

The bank also reached an agreement with unions on pay rises of 3%. Macedo said the new headquarters was built within the planned deadline and budget, and that its floor space fell from more than 90,000 square metres to under 30,000.