“We are in a very good position because central bank governor Mihály Varga has indicated that he does not wish to speak,” board chairman Sándor Csányi joked at the start of the meeting, before telling shareholders he had “excellent results” to present. Varga attended the AGM together with Budapest Stock Exchange CEO Tibor Tóth.
Sándor Csányi and OTP CEO Péter Csányi (his son) outlined a bank that is still performing solidly in Hungary, but whose earnings base is now increasingly anchored outside the domestic market.
At the group level, OTP reported a post-tax profit of HUF 1.146 trillion, up 7% year-on-year. Yet management also noted that the bank’s “core” result edged down by 2%, not because of weaker underlying operations, but because of the rising fiscal burden imposed on the sector in Hungary. Taxes and similar charges rose from HUF 311 billion to HUF 356 bln in one year, while the bank is budgeting for an additional HUF 330 bln burden in 2026.
The clearest sign of OTP’s structural shift is the group’s heavy reliance on its foreign subsidiaries. Overseas units already account for more than 70% of total profit, with particularly strong performances in 2025 from Russia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. The bank’s consolidated balance sheet total has reached EUR 118 bln, and roughly 70% of that now comes from foreign subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 42% of the total loan portfolio is linked to eurozone countries.
“The declining weight of Hungary is not a retreat, but the consequence of faster expansion in foreign markets. This structural shift is also a stabilizing factor, since our performance is increasingly less determined by the cyclicality of any single economy,” Péter Csányi said.
That line sums up where OTP now stands. What was once primarily the dominant Hungarian bank has become a more diversified regional financial group, less exposed to the cycles and political decisions of any single market.
Sándor Csányi argued that the bank’s long-term strategy has clearly paid off. OTP is now a major bank in five countries, has increased its loan portfolio 4.5-fold over the past 11 years, and has built much of that regional footprint through 14 acquisitions. Just as important, he said, growth has not come at the expense of quality. Performing loans rose by 15%, while the share of non-performing loans was also further improved.
The management team also pointed to three business areas where momentum remains especially visible: housing finance, corporate lending, and digitalization.
In retail banking, the government-backed Home Start Program has given mortgage demand a sharp lift, driving OTP’s market share in housing loans to a near-record 33.5%. Personal lending expanded by 36%, while business lending also regained pace after two quieter years. Large corporate loans rose by 18%, and the micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprise segment grew by 13%.
Digital banking was another clear focus. OTP now has 25 million digital users, and an ever larger share of sales is being completed online. Executives claimed no European bank has increased its digital sales ratio faster in recent years. They also stressed that artificial intelligence is becoming more deeply embedded across the business, from risk management to customer service, not as a fashionable add-on, but as a competitive necessity in modern banking.
Still, the meeting made clear that the biggest domestic drag on performance is not technological, but fiscal. In Hungary, loan growth rose by 17%, and margins improved, but profit still fell due to the tax burden.
Executives suggested that, by regional and even broader European standards, the scale of charges imposed on Hungarian banks is unusually high. The windfall tax, transaction levy, and other regulatory burdens continue to absorb a substantial share of sector earnings, even as capital and compliance expectations tighten.
Even so, OTP’s capital and liquidity position remain strong enough to support a major shareholder payout. The supervisory board and audit committee backed the board’s proposal on the use of 2025 profits: HUF 66.326 bln of the HUF 663.259 bln after-tax result will be placed in general reserves, while HUF 300 bln will be distributed as a dividend. That amounts to HUF 1,071.43 per share.
Geopolitics also surfaced, particularly regarding the group’s continued presence in Russia and Ukraine. Sándor Csányi said the combined weight of those two markets has now dropped to just 2% of total exposure, and stressed that OTP complies with all sanctions requirements. On Russia, he said corporate lending has been suspended. However, the bank does not intend to exit completely for now, as doing so would destroy more value than maintaining operations.
On further acquisitions, Sándor Csányi was cautious, though not entirely silent. “Journalists should not even ask about our acquisition plans ahead, because the last time I gave a concrete answer to such a question, I was fined. But I can tell you this much: although there was none in 2025, I hope there will be an acquisition this year.”
The AGM unfolded in the shadow of a dramatically altered political landscape, following the Tisza Party’s sweeping two-thirds election victory. The chairman addressed the outcome in measured terms, saying the incoming government will inherit a difficult economic situation. Among the next cabinet’s most urgent tasks, he listed preserving market confidence, unlocking EU funds, and cutting the budget deficit, all of which have direct implications for the banking sector.
“We have sought correct cooperation with every government over the past 34 years, and that will not change in the future,” he said.
OTP remains one of the key institutions of the Hungarian economy, yet its growth, stability, and profitability increasingly rest on a broader regional platform. Hungary is still important to the bank, but it is no longer the main story.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of April 24, 2026.
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