Avanza grows Q3 profit as larger savings balances offset thinner trading yields

Avanza reported a 13% year-on-year increase in third-quarter operating profit on 16 October, as interest, fund and currency income supported growth. The report also shows the commercial trade-off in attracting larger and more active clients: more savings and trading capacity can come with less revenue for each krona traded. The figures cover July–September 2026.[1]

Larger trades alter the revenue earned from turnover

Gross brokerage income per unit of brokerage-generating turnover fell to 10.3 basis points from 11.4 a year earlier and 11.0 in Q2. Avanza attributes the decline principally to a larger Private Banking and Pro contribution and larger trades in its fixed-fee brokerage class. Those client segments supplied 30% of brokerage income, up from 26%. Net brokerage and currency-related income each fell 12% sequentially, although total brokerage-generating turnover fell 5% and foreign-securities turnover fell only 3%.[2]

The September statistics provide a useful cross-check on trade size. Daily brokerage-generating turnover of SEK 5.02 billion divided by 151,200 notes gives approximately SEK 33,200 per note. A year earlier, SEK 4.66 billion divided by 169,000 gives SEK 27,600. The calculated increase is 20.4%, despite fewer notes. These preliminary statistics exclude mutual funds, Sigma discretionary management and non-brokerage-generating trades, so they describe this charged trading activity rather than every customer transaction.[4]

Currency accounts help explain why securities turnover and conversion revenue need not move together. Avanza’s explanation of the service introduced for Private Banking and Pro capital-insurance accounts in February 2025 describes clients retaining foreign-currency balances and reusing them for subsequent purchases. A sale followed by another purchase in the same currency can therefore generate trading turnover without another conversion. This explains how turnover and conversions can diverge; it does not quantify how much currency accounts contributed to the quarter’s FX revenue change.[5]

A larger pool of savings supports a different income mix

The results presentation reports SEK 18 billion of net inflows to mutual funds in Q3 and shows a declining deposit share as customers bought securities. This shifts the source of income: fund assets can generate continuing commissions, while cash moved out of deposits changes the balances available to earn interest. The same customer relationship can support both businesses at different points in the saving cycle.[3]

Net fund commissions rose 8% from Q2 as fund volumes also increased 8%. The average income rate on fund capital eased to 22.2 basis points from 22.9, while index funds reached 55.5% of fund capital. Volume growth was therefore doing the work of increasing fund income despite a lower unit yield.[2]

The banking side illustrates the offset. In the presentation, income from surplus liquidity fell to SEK 499 million from SEK 534 million, while income from internally financed lending rose to SEK 223 million from SEK 205 million. Growth in assets or customers alone is consequently an incomplete guide to revenue: the location of their money matters.[3]

Sigma introduces a recurring management relationship

Sigma, launched broadly on 31 August, moves Avanza into managing portfolios for customers. The service uses factor-based equity selection within capital insurance, has a SEK 1 million minimum and targets Private Banking and Pro clients. The published launch offer is a 0.55% total fee through 2026, within a stated normal range of 0.55–0.85%. Avanza says Sigma revenue is recorded in Other Income, separating it from conventional brokerage and fund commissions.[6]

The reported SEK 710 million under management at quarter-end is an early scale indicator. It is not a full-quarter fee base: the broad launch occurred near the end of August. For assessing the business, retained assets and management revenue over subsequent periods will be more informative than treating the end-September balance as if it had been invested throughout Q3.[3]

Denmark’s lower 2026 expense is a timing change in a larger investment

Avanza lowered the expected 2026 expense for international expansion to SEK 40 million from SEK 50 million, while retaining the SEK 120–150 million prelaunch investment estimate and approximately 20% capitalisation assumption. The annual expense reduction should therefore be read alongside the unchanged total commitment.[1]

The original Denmark plan schedules an organic launch in the second half of 2027. It anticipates annual running costs of SEK 80 million excluding marketing, rising as the operation grows, and marketing of up to SEK 60 million a year during its first three years. Profitability around five years after launch is management’s expectation. These postlaunch costs sit beyond the initial build budget.[7]

This gives Avanza two different expansion tasks. Sigma must build recurring management income within its existing customer base; Denmark must build a new business before it reaches the planned scale. Reading the investments alongside trading yields makes the Q3 result more useful: the company’s growth depends on the services and balances it wins from each client, as well as the number of clients it attracts.

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