The biggest losses were at Getin Noble Bank (a decrease of 25 percent), Millennium (down 17 percent), MBank (down 11.5 percent.), BZ WBK (down 6.7 per cent), BPH (down 7.6 percent) and PKO BP (down 6.4 percent).
Governing Civic Platform (PO)'s proposed partial conversion of mortgages denominated in Swiss francs that would allow 20 percent of holders of Swiss franc mortgages to convert them into Polish złoty at the current rate means that lenders will be obliged to cover half the conversion cost.
The governing party's proposal is for home loans on flats and houses no bigger than 75 sqm and 100 sqm.
About half a million Poles took out such mortgages denominated in Swiss francs to benefit from lower interest rates, and later their loans became much more expensive after the franc appreciated earlier this year.
Opposition Law and Justice (PiS) proposed an alternative plan with full conversion of foreign currency loans at historical exchange rates, with the financial regulator KNF saying in July its cost could exceed PLN 40 billion (about EUR 9 billion) and require three banks to raise capital to avoid insolvency.
Among lenders with the biggest Swiss franc loan books are PKO BP and Getin Noble, as well as the Polish banking businesses of Santander, Commerzbank, BCP, Raiffeisen and General Electric. Getin is the most exposed to Swiss franc loans, Fitch said.
"Any increase in the burden is significant. The burden on the banks amounts to several billion euros, and within a few days we will be able to make accurate calculations," Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, president of the Association of Polish Banks, said.
"The solution should not destabilise even parts of the banking sector through excessive burdens, the more so that in the coming years the sector will face major challenges related to the need to raise equity or capacity building of the banking bailout fund," he added.
Net profit in the domestic banking sector was PLN 16.2 billion (approx. EUR 4.6 billion) in 2014 and in the first quarter of this year was just over PLN 4 billion.
Domestic banks are facing historically low interest rates, reduced credit card fees and raised contributions to the Bank Guarantee Fund. Banks will also likely see much slower client count growth and lower earnings per client as the country’s economy is evolving from the stage of fast growth towards more mature growth, Ernst and Young said earlier this year.
The opposition PiS party said in June it wants to introduce special taxes on banks and supermarkets if it comes to power. PiS, which leads opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections in October, wants to introduce a 0.39 percent tax on bank assets to bring in PLN 5 billion a year. Critics say the flat levy would hit the smallest and least profitable banks hardest. Getin and BOS would reportedly face the biggest problems. (jh/rk)