CTT Puts a Controlling Stake in Banco CTT Up for Sale as Nine-Month Profit Drops 39.8 Percent on EU Parcel Customs Changes

CTT, the Portuguese postal company, has started a process to sell a controlling stake in its bank, Banco CTT. The board took the decision as part of a "strategic reassessment" of its options for the bank, according to an inside-information notice to the market dated 3 November. On the same day CTT published its results for the first nine months of 2026: net profit fell 39.8 percent to 19.8 million euros, which CTT blames mainly on the collapse in cheap parcels from outside the EU since new customs rules took effect.

For people who bank with Banco CTT, or who use its counters inside post offices, nothing changes today. The notice announces only that a sale process has begun. It names no buyer, no price and no timetable, and it says nothing about customers' accounts, deposits or terms.

What CTT is selling

CTT owns 91.29 percent of Banco CTT, according to the results report. The board says the sale is "subject to the existing contractual obligations between the current shareholders" and that CTT will favour solutions that keep it as a long-term partner of the bank, both as a shareholder and through the bank's use of the CTT network. CTT says it will inform the market if and when any deal is concluded. In July CTT had described any possible transaction involving the bank as premature.

The bank itself is growing. At the end of September it had customer deposits of 4,704.2 million euros, up 12 percent in a year, and 679,000 current accounts. That account figure is lower than a year earlier because Banco CTT closed 48,900 current accounts in 2026 under new Bank of Portugal rules for accounts inactive for 24 months or more.

Why profit fell

CTT describes a "regulatory shock" to its e-commerce parcels business. The EU removed the customs-duty exemption for parcels worth under 150 euros sent from non-EU countries to consumers, with a transitional duty of 3 euros per item type applying since 1 July 2026. Volumes from outside the EU dropped sharply: at Cacesa, CTT's customs-clearance subsidiary, volumes fell 64.1 percent in the third quarter. Recurring operating profit from e-commerce fell 48.2 percent over nine months, to 18.9 million euros.

CTT now expects recurring operating profit (EBIT, excluding one-off items) of about 80 to 85 million euros for 2026. It warns that the further EU handling fee of 2 euros per item on online purchases from outside the EU, charged since 1 November, could shift volumes again and that its impact "remains uncertain". We explained that fee when it took effect.

Ordinary post held up better. Mail revenue was broadly flat in the third quarter at 85.4 million euros, even though addressed mail traffic fell 8.7 percent, helped by an average 5.93 percent rise in universal-service postal prices in February.

What it means for you

• Deposits stay protected. Banco CTT's own standard information sheet states that its deposits are covered by the Fundo de Garantia de Depósitos (the national deposit guarantee fund) up to 100,000 euros per depositor.
• Nothing to do yet. The filing announces a process, not a sale. Watch for letters from the bank if anything about your account changes.
• Post office counters. CTT says it wants the bank to keep using its network, but the filing makes no commitment on specific branches.

Banco CTT customers had a separate disruption last month, when the bank switched off its app and homebanking for a weekend systems update.