CaixaBank profits increase 54% to €4.8bn

CaixaBank profits rose to €4.816 billion last year, an increase of 53.9% compared to the year before, according to the results published this Friday by Spain's stock market regulator (CNMV).

The figure represents a significant increase on last year's profits of €3.129 billion.

The results come a day after another Catalan financial institution, Banc Sabadell, reported record profits of €1.332 billion in 2023, an annual increase of 55%. 

The result is driven by the increase in 'core' income, which rises by 31.6% to €15.137 billion, and especially by the pace of the interest margin which soars by 54.3% to reach €10.113 billion.

On the other hand, net commissions fell by 5.1% to reach a value of €3.658 billion.

The company announced that will distribute dividends of €2.89 billion to shareholders, a value of of €0.3919 per share, in light of these positive results; the equivalent of a payout of 60%. In addition, it will also undertake a new share buyback program.

The CaixaBank Group, which after the merger with Bankia has 20.1 million customers and approximately 4,200 branches in Spain and Portugal, has more than €600 billion in assets.

General expenses and staff costs grew by 6.1% and 4.7% respectively last year for CaixaBank.

The return on equity (ROE) stands at 13.2% while the efficiency ratio has increased to 40.9%.

CaixaBank's customer assets rose by 3.1% annually to €630 billion, and its loan portfolio stands at over €344 billion.

The firm's financing for mortgages stands at €9.382 billion.

CaixaBank has kept the non-performing loan ratio stable at 2.7% and has reduced doubtful balances by €175 million, to €10.516 billion.