Spanish banking is set to begin the year 2024 with strong first quarter results, with Bankinter leading the way. The bank has reported a profit of 200.8 million euros between January and March, an increase of 8.7% compared to the same period last year. This marks the best first quarter in the bank’s history, thanks to improvements in all business lines and markets.
Investors have responded positively to these results, with Bankinter’s stock price rising more than 2% mid-morning on the market. The trend in the sector seems to be increasing profits, driven by improvements in credit portfolio volumes albeit at a slower pace compared to last year. The increase in interest rates set by the ECB in mid-2022 has provided a boost to Spanish banks, leading to record profits in 2023. While there were doubts about the performance for 2024, entities are confident in maintaining and even surpassing those historic levels.
Bankinter has reported a 10.6% increase in interest margin, reaching 577.7 million euros and an 8.5% increase in net commissions to 165.8 million euros. These figures will be used to calculate the payment of the extraordinary tax to the sector, estimated to be between 90 and 100 million euros for Bankinter in 2024. Despite inflation pressures, Bankinter’s gross margin increased by 7% compared to the previous year, leading to improvements in efficiency and profitability metrics. Delinquency remains low and defaults that were expected after rate increases have not materialized
