Good morning, and welcome to Oma Savings Bank's Q4 and full year 2025 results briefing. My name is Pirjetta Soikkeli, and I am Head of Communications. We will start the event with the presentation by our CEO, Karri Alameri. After that, we will have a Q&A session with Karri and our CFO, Sarianna Liiri. Please remember to dial into the telephone conference to ask questions. With that, Karri, please welcome on stage.
Thank you, Pirjetta. Good morning. I will cover the following topics: Q4, financial year 2025, strategy and financial targets, and outlook for the financial year 2026. Let's start with Q4. Q4 was in line with expectations. Comparable profit before taxes was EUR 17.2 million. Cost growth has turned downward. Comparable operating expenses decreased by 5.7% to EUR 30.5 million. Impairment losses on financial assets remained at a moderate level and decreased in Q4 by 26.2% to EUR 5.6 million. Our core business has a strong footing. Customer satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of our company's success. In the customer survey conducted at the end of 2025, our net promoter score rose to 40. Let's take a look at the comparable key figures for Q4.
Comparable profit before taxes was EUR 17.2 million. Comparable operating expenses decreased by 5.7%. Due to the decline in the loan portfolio and market interest rates, net interest income decreased by 26.3% to EUR 37.5 million. Net fee and commission income increased by 1.6% to EUR 13.3 million. Fees from lending, fund savings, and payment transactions increased. The growth in payment transactions fees was influenced by pricing changes implemented in Q4. Comparable return on equity was 99.3, comparable earnings per share was 0.43, and CET1 ratio 18.3%. Here you can see the comparable operating expenses, which decreased by 5.7% to EUR 30.5 million. Personal expenses, however, increased by almost 17% to EUR 11 million due to higher number of employees.
The decrease in other operating expenses is explained by the investment in risk control processes during the comparison period. Let's take a look at the one-off expenses. We have continued our systematic work to clarify and streamline the company's processes. In Q4, one-off expenses recorded from these processes were EUR 400,000 for the action plan to address the supervisory authorities' findings issued in February 2025, and EUR 600,000 for investigation costs related to the controlled winding down portfolio. We will continue with the needed improvements as part of our continuous development work. Here you can see the comparable operating expenses, which decreased by 5.7%. Personal expenses, however, increased by almost 17% to EUR 11 million due to higher number of employees. The decrease in other operating expenses is explained by the investment in risk control processes during the comparison period.
Let's then take a look at the one-off expenses. We have continued our systematic work to clarify and streamline the company's processes. In Q4, one-off expenses recorded from these processes were EUR 400,000 for the action plan to address the supervisory authorities' findings issued in February 2025, and EUR 600,000 for investigation costs related to the controlled winding down portfolio. We will continue with the needed improvements as part of our continuous development work. Apologies, it looks like that I went through the same slide two times. Net fee and commission income and expenses increased by 1.6% and were in total EUR 13.3 million. Compared to the previous quarter, the increase was 6.7%.... Commission income related to lending, saving in funds, and to payment transactions increased from the comparison period.
The pricing changes in Q4 improved the income on payment transaction fees. Let's now move to the financial year of 2025. Here are the comparable indicators for the year 2025. Profit before taxes, EUR 56.9 million. Earnings per share, EUR 1.37. Return on equity, 7.6%, and total assets, EUR 7.5 billion. Our volumes developed as follows: The SME loan portfolio saw a drop of nearly 20%, which occurred mainly at the beginning of the year. This was primarily due to our decision to focus on companies which are in line with our strategy. This means that we intentionally divested several larger customers. We have also carried out systematic work to reduce the controlled winding down portfolio, and we divested some customers for risk management reasons.
The mortgage loan portfolio decreased by 3.2%. However, we saw a stabilization towards the end of the year. At the same time, the average size of the granted loans was clearly lower compared to the past. The deposits decreased by 3%. During Q1, the deposits declined due to changes in the deposits of individual corporate customers. During Q2 and Q3, the deposits increased, and in Q4, the deposits decreased by 1.9%, mainly due to the changes in institutional deposits. This slide shows our loan portfolio broken down by customer groups. Mortgage loans form the largest part of our loan portfolio. At the end of 2024, the total loan portfolio was EUR 6.4 billion, and at the end of 2025, it was EUR 5.9 billion.
The 8.4 decrease in the total portfolio is explained by the reasons I mentioned earlier. The controlled winding down portfolio was EUR 180 million at the end of the year, a decline of EUR 20 million compared to the end of June 2025, and EUR 60 million compared to the starting point. The credit quality developed as follows: Impairment losses on financial assets were EUR 47.1 million, of which controlled winding down portfolio, EUR 14 million, and other loan portfolio, EUR 33.1 million. Expected credit losses were EUR 41.3 million. This figure increased by EUR 9.3 million due to change in, in the ECL model. Net realized credit losses were EUR 5.8 million. Impairment losses on financial assets decreased in Q4 by 26.2% to EUR 5.6 million.
Provisions for the controlled winding down portfolio remained at the same level as the previous quarter. Then we move on to non-performing loans. The Finnish economy, and especially the real estate market, has developed subduedly, which has reflected in the growth of non-performing exposures and expected credit losses. The growth of non-performing exposures in Q4 came mainly from households. The amount of non-performing exposures has been declining, but the lead times of debt collection processes have lengthened, especially due to the prolonged realization periods of real estate collateral. We estimate that non-performing exposures will turn to decline during 2026. The share of non-performing exposures increased to 8.9% and amounted to EUR 525 million at the end of the year. During Q3, we confirmed a plan for the non-performing exposures, and the implementation is proceeding.
We are investing, especially in improving the efficiency of early-stage debt collection. We will continue the systematic work to reduce the amount of non-performing exposures. Now, I would like to highlight the financial position. The total capital ratio at the year-end was 19.3%, and the CET1 ratio was 18.3%. Accumulated equity at the year-end was EUR 618.8 million. Risk-weighted assets decreased from EUR 3.7 billion to EUR 3 billion. The decline was mainly due to a reduction in total exposures and CRR3 changes effective from the beginning of the year. Total capital at the year-end was EUR 581.4 million, which exceeds the overall capital requirement set by the authorities by about EUR 167 million. The company applies the standardized approach for credit risk in its capital adequacy calculation.
As a conclusion, I can state that our financial position is very strong. According to the company's dividend policy, updated in January 2026, OmaSp aims to pay a stable and growing dividend of at least 30% of annual net profit. The company also has the preparedness to pay additional dividends. The board proposes that an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.36 and an additional dividend of EUR 0.14 to be paid for each share entitled to receive a dividend for 2025. The additional dividend is proposed in accordance with the dividend policy due to the company's strong financial position and significantly strengthened capital buffers. In the board's view, the company's liquidity position is strong, and the proposed dividend distribution does not endanger the company's solvency. Let's now take a look at our strategy of growth.
This January, we published our strategy and financial targets for 2026-2029. We aim to position ourselves as a nationally recognized and respected bank that combines the highly personal service of a small bank with the trustworthiness of a strong bank, along with the efficiencies that the unified operating model enables. Our growth is based on more diversified earnings. Our strong customer insight enable products and services that increase fee income and deepen customer relationship. Our target groups include private customers, building, growing, and nurturing their lives, as well as small business owners, growing companies, and established local businesses. We focus on customers and companies for whom personal service creates the most value. At the same time, we will be operating more efficiently.
We are unifying our operating models, utilizing data and technology, and improving productivity across the organization, without losing the touch of personal service. Everything we do is based on OmaSp's culture and values: customer orientation, cooperation, reliability, expertise, and results. We are growing responsibly in a controlled manner, maintaining strong capital adequacy, and aim to pay attractive dividends. Our financial targets for 2026-2029 are as follows: a comparable return on equity of over 14%, a comparable cost-income ratio below 50%, annual growth in fee income of over 10%, an NPS above 50, and CET1 ratio two percentage points above the regulatory requirement. And now, the outlook for the financial year of 2026.
Our business outlook for 2026 is affected by the overall housing market situation, and particularly, the impact of market conditions on SMEs' willingness to invest. Due to decline in market interest rates and changes in the loan portfolio, net interest income will decrease in comparison to the previous financial period. For 2026, we expect a stable cost development, and we estimate that the impairment losses on financial assets will remain at a lower level than in the previous financial year. We estimate that the comparable profit before taxes for the financial year 2026 will decrease slightly from the comparison period. With that, I hand back to Pirjetta.
Thank you, Karri. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A session. I would like to invite also our CFO, Sarianna Liiri, on stage. Sarianna, welcome
A reminder, please remember to dial into the telephone conference to ask questions. Operator, we are now ready to take the questions.
If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on telephone keypad. There are no questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
Okay, thank you. I would like to remind that we will have our AGM on April sixteenth, and announce our first quarter results on May 7, and we will host a Capital Markets Day on May 19. Please join us for these events, and thank you all for joining us today. Would you have any further questions? Do not hesitate to contact us, we are here to help. Have a nice day. Bye now.