FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 9, 2021--S&P Global Ratings today said that mBank?s (BBB/Negative/A-2) modest 2020 annual profit, which it announced today, of Polish zloty (PLN) 104 million (about €23 million) does not indicate a weakening business franchise. In our opinion, the bank continues to demonstrate robust mortgage lending and deposits growth, driven by an increasing client base. Three specific factors severely affected mBank's 2020 results: Historical foreign-exchange mortgage lending (predominantly in Swiss francs [CHF]) to clients that resulted in PLN1.02 billion of litigation-related provisions in 2020 alone. The CHF-denominated exposure still constitutes 12% of the bank's total loans; The external hit from the COVID-19-induced recession, resulting in an increase of loan loss provisions to PLN1.23 billion; and The systemic
