Spain’s Caixabank Q1 net profit rises 21% on lending income
2023.05.05 00:59
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: CaixaBank’s logo is seen on top of the company’s headquarters in Barcelona, Spain January 29, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Caixabank said on Friday its net profit rose 21% in the first quarter from the same period in 2022 thanks to a strong increase in lending income and a solid performance of its insurance business.
The lender reported a net profit of 855 million euros ($943.83 million) in the January to March period despite a cost of 373 million euros from a new banking tax. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a net profit of 643 million euros.
Spanish lenders, including Caixabank, Sabadell, Santander (BME:), BBVA (BME:), have legally challenged the tax.
Despite economic uncertainty, banks across Europe are benefiting from higher interest rates and Caixabank’s net interest income in the quarter rose 49% year-on-year to 2.16 billion euros, beating the 2.02 billion euros analysts expected.
By the end of March, deposits from retail clients at Caixabank fell 1.4% against December following the banking turmoil triggered by last month’s failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
($1 = 0.9056 euros)
