Spain’s top banks enjoy 2013 profit surge

FE Team | Published: February 01, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

MADRID, Jan 31 (AFP):Top Spanish banks have reported a 2013 profit surge, predicting better times ahead after taking hefty losses in Spain and other crisis-hit eurozone nations.
Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank said they had emerged stronger from banking troubles that led to a 41-billion-euro ($56 billion) rescue of their weaker rivals in Spain.
All Spanish banks have had to set aside money for losses on assets, pounded by the collapse in 2008 of a decade-long property boom.
At the same time, they have been obliged to boost the ratio of rock solid core capital on their balance sheets.
Analysts say risks remain in the sector, with doubtful loans rising in November to 13.08 per cent of all credit extended by Spanish banks, the highest since records began in their existing form in 1962.
But the top flight of the sector appears to be emerging from the crisis.
Spain's Santander bank, the largest in the eurozone by market value, reported Thursday a 90.5-per cent leap in net profits to 4.37 billion euros in 2013.
Financial troubles in Spain and other fragile eurozone economies had forced Santander to slash the estimated value of its assets in past years, eroding its profits.
"After several years of strengthening the balance sheet and capital, Banco Santander is embarking on a period of strong profit growth in the coming years," Santander chairman Emilio Botin said.
Santander said the 2013 results marked a "turnaround" after the declining profits of recent years.
CaixaBank revealed Friday that its net profits had climbed by 119 per cent to 503 million euros in 2013 as it recovered after setting aside large sums for bad loans and absorbed two troubled lenders.
CaixaBank net banking income edged up by 2.1 per cent over the same period to 3.95 billion euros.
One of Spain's largest banks, BBVA, announced the same day a 33-per cent leap in net profit for 2013 despite suffering losses in the final quarter.