Banc Sabadell has sold 80% of Paycomet, its payment subsidiary, to the Italian bank Nexi for 280 million euros. The bank will maintain a 20% stake for at least three years, a period after which it can sell its part. In a communication to the CNMV, Sabadell reported that this sale is part of a ten-year, extendable strategic agreement with Nexi.
The total amount of the transaction, adding the 20% that will continue for the moment in the hands of Sabadell, "has been set at 350 million euros, expandable depending on the achievement of objectives."
Last September, the financial institution already announced that it was "in the process of analyzing a possible strategic agreement with a specialist industrial partner" in the payments business.
The transaction announced yesterday is subject to "appropriate necessary approvals" and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year. The operation "will generate a positive impact on Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) 'fully loaded' capital of 14 basis points" at the time of closing, details the group, and "it is expected to contribute positively to the income statement since from the first year.
"This agreement incorporates economies of scale and greater cost efficiency to our proposal, as well as higher quality in technological solutions and specialization, all of this to continue improving the service to our customers," said the CEO of Business Banking in a statement. and Banco Sabadell Network, Carlos Ventura.
For his part, the CEO of Nexi, Paolo Bertoluzzo, pointed out that with this agreement they enter "with a strong position in Spain, a market that we have always considered very attractive for digital payments due to its great potential for profitable and sustainable growth through long term, in a very similar way to Italy”.
Banc Sabadell earned 859 million euros last year, 61.9% more than the previous year. They are the highest in history without counting extraordinary. The reduction in costs, the improvement in margins due to the rise in rates, in addition to the good performance of the British subsidiary TSB, explain the good performance of profits.
The interest margin also increased by 11% due to the higher yield on credit, the repricing of the Euribor and the contribution of the fixed-income portfolio. The bank predicted in its last results presentation that the interest margin will grow between 15 and 20% in the year. The good behavior of the results is also supported by an improvement in costs of 12.8%. The bank explained in its day that this reduction is "due to the savings in personnel expenses after carrying out the efficiency plans in Spain."
