The six large Spanish banks -Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Bankinter, Banco Sabadell and Unicaja Banco- have registered 12,385 million euros in the first half of 2023, 20.7% compared to the first six months of 2022 according to Europa Press.
The rise in interest rates applied in the last year by central banks, especially by the European Central Bank, have boosted these gains. It has achieved this by triggering, in most cases, the interest margins of the entities.
The highest attributable profit was obtained by Santander with 5,241 million euros in the first half, 7% more in both constant and current euros than in the same period last year. The entity explained that the result is due to strong revenue growth, especially in Europe, which managed to neutralize the year-on-year increase in provisions in North and South America.
The main driver of Santander’s profits has been the Spanish market, with a net profit of 1,132 million euros, 73.6% more than between January and June 2022. It is ahead of other markets such as the US or Brazil , which in recent years had been the main ones for the bank.
BBVA has achieved a net attributable profit of 3,878 million euros, an increase of 31% compared to the profits of the same period last year. Within Spain the benefit has been 1,231 million euros, 53.68% more.
CaixaBank has achieved a profit of 2,137 million euros, 35.8% more than in the first half of 2022. The entity has achieved an excellent commercial evolution, with an increase of 31.3% in ‘core’ income, up to the 7,110 million euros
The profits registered by Sabadell have been 564 million euros, increasing by 43.6% compared to the same period last year. The entity’s British subsidiary, TBS, has contributed to the result with a profit of 106 million euros.
Bankinter has closed the first half of 2023 with a net profit of 417.9 million euros, 54% more than between January and June of last year. While Unicaja has obtained a profit of 148 million euros, 13% less.
