With a profit of 560 million euros, the group would have to pay around 100 million for the new tax on banks
The first bank to present its annual accounts for 2022 has shown the path the sector has taken in the year in which interest rates rose sharply. The Bankinter Group has completed “a satisfactory fiscal year,” indicates the group in which the entity met its 2023 profit targets a year in advance and managed to exceed pre-pandemic results and Line Direct’s segregation. The entity’s net profit exceeds EUR 560 million, 28% more than in 2021.
The results come with the introduction of the new banking tax approved by the government since January 1. With the figures provided by the entity and its taxable income, Bankinter would have to pay about 100 million euros. The group’s CEO, María Dolores Dancausa, had already expected them to appeal “the day after payment”. The executive ruled at the end of the year that the tax is “discriminatory and confiscatory and fails to meet any technical justification.”
According to the group, these good results stem from a substantial improvement in all account margins, as a result of greater commercial momentum and an ability to attract business, which has enabled the bank to grow across all industries, client segments and different geographies in those regions. it operates. The benefit of 2022 could have been greater by not yet including the insurance company’s four months of income in the accounts, but avoiding in the equation the capital gain generated by the IPO of Línea Directa that the bank booked that year.
Improving margins
The Group’s balance sheet total remains, as at 31 December 2022, comparable to last year: EUR 107,507 million.
In terms of lending investments to customers, it grew by 9.1% compared to the same figure in 2021, reaching EUR 74,243.4 million, demonstrating the commercial strength of the bank and its willingness to finance projects for households and companies in a complex environment such as the current one.
Looking at data in Spain alone, the investment portfolio is up 5.3%, six times higher than the industry’s average growth rate, according to Bank of Spain data as of November. In other regions, growth is much stronger: 15% more in the case of Portugal, while Ireland doubles its loan balance.
As for retail client funds, they ended the year at EUR 75,164.3 million, representing an increase of 3.7% compared to 2021 in an environment of intense inter-entity competition.
On the other hand, off-balance sheet funds under management assumed a decrease of 9.4% in the year, mainly due to the poor performance in the fixed income and variable income markets, which impacted the valuation of the assets. However, the fund assets of Bankinter Gestión de Activos grew by 3.3%.
The various ratios and indicators accompany this strength of the company. For example, the ROE (return on equity) stands at 12%, compared to 9.6% last year, excluding Línea Directa’s extraordinary capital gains; and with a ROTE of 12.7%. And efficiency improves to 44%, or 40.5% in the case of Spain. All these figures remain among the best in the sector at European level.
In terms of solvency, the fully loaded CET1 capital ratio rises to 12%, well above the minimum requirement set by the ECB for all of 2023 for Bankinter, which is 7.726%, the same as the previous year.
At the same time, Bankinter maintains its level of non-performing loans under control despite a deteriorating macroeconomic environment, with a ratio down to 2.10% compared to 2.24% a year ago, and with a strengthened coverage of 63 .6% to 66.3% in December 2021.
In terms of liquidity, Bankinter maintains a negative commercial gap, with a higher volume of deposits than loans, 102.8%, while emphasizing that the entity has no issue maturities for wholesalers this year.
Special mention should be made of the good performance of the BKT share, with a 39% increase in value and a total shareholder return for the year, including dividends, of 45%.
All margins of the account show very strong growth compared to last year, due to a favorable evolution of interest rates and the increased commercial momentum of the bank, which translated into higher volumes, especially in the investment portfolio.
Thus, the interest margin ends with figures 20.5% higher than those of 2021, to 1,536.7 million euros, closing an excellent tight quarter, the best of recent years.
The gross margin exceeded EUR 2,000 million for the first time on December 31, ie EUR 2,084.3 million, representing 12.3% of the 2021 figures.
And as for the operating margin before provisions, it closes with equally satisfactory figures, 1,166.3 million euros, 16.4% more than last year, assuming a 7.6% increase in operating costs due to higher investments in new projects and higher fees for staff to handle them, and with regulatory costs totaling 140 million euros in the year, compared to 124 the previous year, representing 7% of gross margin.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
