Santander, BBVA and Caixabank In the Spotlight After Increasing Profits- Although By Less Than Expected

Caixabank obtained an attributable net profit of EUR 503 million in 2013, a 118,9% more than in 2012, in a year marked by the accounting and technological merger of Banca Civica and Banco de Valencia, as net interest income slipped and bad loans grew.

As for BBVA, the Spain’s second-largest banking group by assets posted a €677m net loss for the 4Q because of a €2.6bn pre-tax loss on the sale of its stake in a Chinese bank (in October, it cut its stake in China Citic Bank to just below 10%.) However,  its profit for the full year went up by 33% in 2013 to €2.228 billion. Analysts had expected net interest income of around €3.6 billion.

“Our outlook for 2014 has improved significantly and we are in an excellent position to respond to the growth of solvent demand of new credit,” BBVA’s Chairman Francisco González said.
This results add to Spain’s largest bank. Banco Santander reported on Thursday that 4Q net profit more than doubled (it jumped by 90%) as it set aside a smaller proportion of its earnings to cover loan losses. It made €4.37bn in net profits last year, almost double the level of 2012, which was a little below market expectations.
Santander said net interest income – what it makes on loans minus funding costs- was down 13.3 percent compared to 2012 at 25.94 billion euros, below expectations. In the fourth quarter, Santander said profit rose slightly, up 0.4 percent from a year ago to 1.06 billion euros. The bank said it was starting a “new era” of strong profit growth after several years of efforts to strengthen its balance sheet and capital.

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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.

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