The six major Spanish banks close record year 2022 with 20,850 million profit, 28% more

Euskaraz irakurri: Espainiako has a large number of hands in the year 2022, 20,850 million mozkinekin, % 28 gehiago

The six major Spanish banks earned a record 20,850 million in 2022, 28% more, which has fueled criticism from the left, which calls for greater engagement with citizens of entities that will have to pay more than 1100 million for the new tax on the sector .

With these figures, all entities have already expressed their intention to improve shareholder remuneration, increasing not only the payment in dividends but in some cases re-run share buyback programs to increase the value of the stock.

The rise in interest rates in Europe has contributed to the increase in the benefits of the major Spanish banks –Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja Banco– mainly in the second half of the year.

Faced with these historic achievements, the economic vice president of the Spanish government, Nadia Calvinoconsiders “a general cry” that the banks are “shrugging their shoulders” and describes as “adequate” the taxation the Executive will place on the banking business and which the industry believes will have an impact on lending.

However, the industry points out that, despite banks’ large profits, their profitability is still low in absolute terms, especially in the corporate sector in Spain, which does not cover the cost of capital, which explains why banks continue to trade largely on the stock market below their book value.

This is one of the main arguments for banks refuse tax created by the Spanish government those charges 4.8% the interest margin and net commissions from the banking business in Spain, which the Executive considers to be extraordinary benefits due to the rise in interest rates.

3 billion in two years

For this new tax, with which the government expects to raise 3 billion in two years, the six large entities will pay more than 1100 million euros this year, according to estimates from the banks.

The Spanish government’s idea is to use the money it collects with this new tax cover part of the costs of social measures promoted to help the most vulnerable families, although some entities have already announced that they will resort to that payment and the rest will analyze the possibility of doing so.