CaixaBank closed last year with a net profit of 3,145 million euros. It is 39.8% less than in 2021 because it is not affected by the extraordinary accounting impacts derived from the merger with Bankia. In comparable terms, profit grew by 29.7%.
The improvement in results is fundamentally supported by an increase in margins in a scenario of rising interest rates together with a drop in costs due to the synergies derived from the merger that was completed two years ago. The interest margin, which measures the typical banking activity of lending money and taking funds from clients, grew by 7.7%. On the other hand, recurring expenses fell by 5.6%. In the last year the workforce has been reduced by 5,137 people, down to 44,625 employees. More than 900 offices closed, so the branches stand at 4,404.
In a statement, the president of the entity, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, has indicated that last year a remuneration of 1,700 million euros was paid to shareholders, which rises to 3,500 million with the share repurchase program. “This puts us on the path to achieving our goal of distributing up to 9,000 million in the period 2022-2024”, added the president. For the CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, “the improvement in results allows us to substantially increase the remuneration for our shareholders”. The bank is controlled by Criteria Caixa with 30% and by the FROB dependent on the State with another 16%.
Despite the rise in rates, the bank has managed to reduce the non-performing loan ratio to its all-time lows, standing at 2.7%.
In the year, bank commissions grew by 1.7%, although recurring commissions showed a slight reduction of 0.3% due to the elimination of deposit custody fees and the unification of individual customer loyalty programs after the merger, explained the bank.
For its part, dividend income was 163 million, 15% less than in 2022. These include those of Telefónica and BFA for 69 and 87 million, respectively.
