Ofelia Marín-Lozano | All the banks have seen a sharp decline in their profitability compared with a decade ago. This is partly due to the heavy provisions made to offset the impact of the property crisis (over 300 billion euros in accumulated terms). But it is also the result of the decrease in pre-provisions operating profit and the requirement for the lenders to raise their capital in line with assets.
The announcement that Santoro Financial (Isabel Dos Santos) will sell its stake in BPI to Caixabank is good news for the Catalan lender. But let’s keep in mind the economic backdrop to all this. The Portuguese economy is currently going through a particularly difficult time, with the existence of serious risks to its financial system.
F. Barciela and F.G. Ljubetic | For several years, Spain’s third biggest bank has been trying to gain full control of Portuguese lender BPI, in which it already holds 44.1%. But up until now it has been unable to fulfill its objective. And it seems undeniable that the reason for CaixaBank’s failure is a young Angolan woman. Isabel dos Santos, 43, is the oldest daughter of José Eduardo dos Santos, one of the longest serving presidents in Africa.
Caixabank is conscious of the fact that the Spanish market is running out of steam and that the future lies in having a strong presence abroad, like its two bigger Spanish rivals (Santander and BBVA). So it is relaunching its initiative to fully acquire Banco Portugues de Investimento (BP), in which it currently holds 44%. It also announced three dividends for 2016.
Renta 4 | Spain’s big banks H2 results expected to be weaker.
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | Investment by Catalan lender may provoke “Iberian battle” for supremacy in the peninsula.
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Caixabank’s net profit dropped by 54.6% to €152M in the first quarter. Analysts highlight the positive impact of integrating Banco de Valencia and Banca Cívica. Spain’s third biggest bank by market value improved its margins and reduced its NPL rate for the first time since the crisis started.
MADRID | The Corner Team | Three Spanish financial institutions set the example of the country’s incipient recovery just after the banking bailout program came to a clean end: Santander gained 90% more than last year; Caixabank, 118% and BBVA, 30%.
BARCELONA | CaixaBank reported Friday a poor attributed January to March net income of €166 million as a result of provisions enforced by the Spanish government, set to clean up the balance sheets of the country’s banking sector. For the Catalan entity, the figure means an 80.1-percent cut down comparing to the first quarter of 2011 and bears the scars of large write-downs of €3.735 billion. CaixaB ank said that, as…
Should Banco Santander and BBVA watch out for this one? The absorption of Banca Cívica, approved on Monday by Caixabank’s board, will create the leading bank in the Spanish market, with assets of €342 billion, stock market capitalization in excess of €16 billion, 14 million customers and an average Spanish market share in deposits of 14.0%, in customer loans of 13.4% and in total assets of 10.5%. CaixaBank will become…