Santander and BBVA best positioned for cut in ECB deposit rate

SAN BBVA

The European banking sector rose last Thursday 0.24% (vs +0.63% EuroStoxx 50) with Banco Santander (+0.5%) and BBVA (+1.1%) leading the gains among Spanish banks.

Bankinter analysis team believes that the cut in the deposit rate to -0.50% (from -0.4%) further penalises keeping excess liquidity in the ECB. Tiering (or the method of charging in tranches) only partially mitigates the impact with a volume of up to six times the coefficient of obligatory reserves (currently 1.0%) exempt. This favours banks with higher and more internationally diversified ratios of credit investment/typical resources like Banco Santander and BBVA.

Banks with lower ratios (greater excess of reserves) like Bankia will have to confront greater costs if they do not increase their bond portfolios, something that will probably end up happening – the IRR of Spanish bonds in the tranche 3/5 years gain attraction in the current situation.

At the European level, the best positioned entities are Intesa and Unicredit which have also benefited from the fall in the Italian risk premium and, to a lesser extent, ABN in Holland.

The most prejudiced banks in relative terms are Deutsche Bank and French banks (BNP and Credit Agricole). Lastly, it it worth pointing out the positive impact that the new TLTROs could have given that their remuneration could reach 0.5% (vs the 0.30% announced in the last meeting of the ECB) vs the current 0.4%.

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.