This Thursday, with the presentation of Bankinter’s results, the new banking career begins. After eight years with the ECB setting zero or negative rates, the turnaround occurred in July with the first of several increases in the year. And this, for the banking business, means the recovery of recurring income. In the case of the entity directed by María Dolores Dancausa, until September it earned 430.1 million, 21.2% more than in the same period of the previous year if the almost 900 million of the capital gain that was recorded last year is excluded. for the spin-off of Línea Directa to take it public, as reported this Thursday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
The change in monetary policy with successive rate hikes will take time to be fully reflected in the entities’ accounts (variable mortgages are normally updated to the Euribor only once a year). Although this oxygen cylinder is already felt in the numbers. Bankinter’s result, in fact, exceeds that registered last year in the first nine months of the year, despite the fact that in 2021 the 40 million contributed by Línea Directa until the end of April are included. This growth is also achieved in an environment of economic uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, which has been able to reduce the vigor of the business.
“These data serve to verify Bankinter’s potential to expand market share in all those businesses, national and international, in which it operates; and its ability to more than compensate with purely banking activity for the income that until April 2021 came to it from Línea Directa, ”says the entity in a note.
The group closed September with 1,065.5 million in net interest income (11.6% more than the same period of the previous year) and net commissions of 452 million euros (an increase of 2%). These are precisely the figures on which the Government intends to tax banks for the next two years with an extraordinary tax to raise 3,000 million. Although financial sources insist that the expected improvement in the numbers will reflect a return to normality for the sector and does not mean that there are extraordinary income from the rate hike, as the Government defends.
On the expenses side, the company’s operating costs have increased by 4.9%, to 655 million, due to higher investments in the different businesses and geographies. The result before taxes of the banking activity reached 601.6 million, 35.9% more than a year ago in comparable terms. And regarding return on equity (ROE), Bankinter grew 2.2 points to 11.6% and the CET1 capital ratio fully loaded stood at 11.9%. The bank exceeds “very comfortably the minimum requirement demanded by the ECB for an entity with the level of risk and the type of activity of Bankinter, which is 7.726%”, according to the entity.
Revenues were also on the rise: the gross margin rose by 6.7% to 1,517.7 million euros. “Of the total of these incomes, 70% correspond to the interest margin and 30% to commissions,” the bank says. The businesses that contribute the most are asset management (149 million), the collection and payment activity (120 million), the securities business (85 million) and exchange differences (70 million), among others.
In addition, defaults remain at bay despite economic uncertainty: at 2.1%. A very low figure that shows the good health of the client portfolio at the moment. Despite this, the bank led by Dancausa protects itself from possible turbulence: “Bankinter has prudently continued to strengthen the coverage of this delinquency to 65.1%, from 62.8% a year ago.”
Growth in the Payroll Account
The group’s total assets rose, at the end of the third quarter, to 110,498.7 million euros (7.8% more than a year ago). As for the main deposit products, where the payroll account and mortgages stand out, the evolution continues to rise. On the Payroll Account side, key to attracting customers, Bankinter accumulates a balance of 16,600 million euros, which is 15% higher than a year ago.
In the mortgage business, the portfolio has grown until September. If the contribution of EVO Banco is included, as well as Bankinter Portugal and Ireland, the portfolio has grown to 33.4 billion euros, compared to 30.6 billion a year ago. “The growth in Spain of the portfolio is somewhat lower, 1.6%, as a result of the rise in interest rates and the consequent upward revision of the fixed rates of mortgages, although it is still above the sectoral average in Spain, which was 1.3% with data to August,” the bank said in a statement.
By country, the group increases its market share in the markets in which it operates and this translates into improved results. For example, this occurs with Portugal, where the entity recorded a profit of 54 million, 33% more. EVO Banco, Bankinter’s digital brand, also shows significant strength and potential: its investment portfolio has grown by 47% in the year to 2,489 million euros. The new mortgage production until September was 727 million, which represents 33% more than during the same period of 2021.
