MADRID (Reuters) – Caixabank on Friday reported a 22% rise in net profit in the first quarter year-on-year, beating expectations, excluding one-off items related to the merger with Bankia.
Earnings were supported by higher revenue from the insurance business and long-term savings products, despite pressure on lending revenue.
The Spanish bank, which in March completed the acquisition of Bankia for 4.3 billion euros, reported a pro forma net profit of 707 million euros in the first quarter.
This figure is to be compared with the 580 million euros achieved in the same period last year and integrating the activities of Bankia, excluding the gain linked to the acquisition of Bankia below its book value.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average had expected a profit of 601 million euros for the period.
Taking into account the exceptional accounting profit linked to the takeover of Bankia (badwill) of 4.3 billion linked to the acquisition of Bankia in the first quarter of 2021, the net profit of the largest bank in Spain is down 85%
Caixabank also announced provisions of 214 million euros to protect against the estimated impact of the conflict in Ukraine. The group has a credit risk exposure of approximately 185 million euros in Russia.
Pro forma net interest income, the difference between what the bank pays for deposits and what it earns for loans, fell 5.4% in the first quarter to 1.55 billion euros , in line with analysts’ estimates.
(Report Jesús Aguado, French version Diana Mandiá; editing by Kate Entringer)
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