The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, was yesterday particularly critical of the temporary banking tax that Sumar wants to make permanent. He assured that it is like "shooting yourself in the foot" because it damages competitiveness.
The manager's criticism took place during the presentation of the results of the first nine months of the year, in which CaixaBank has earned 3,659 million euros, 48.2% more than during the same period in 2022. Gortázar insisted that the entity has no extraordinary profits and assured that of the 35 companies in the Ibex it is number 24 in the profitability ranking. "There is discrimination" against certain financial entities with this tax, he said before recalling that unregulated or shadow banking, such as vulture funds or others, is not taxed. The first executive of CaixaBank said that measures of this type can precisely encourage that unregulated bank. He also recalled that the bank competes in many provinces with small Spanish entities that are exempt from paying the tax. On an international scale, he pointed out, they are also in inferior conditions compared to large French or German banks, since there is no tax in those countries.
The improvement in the bank's profits has been achieved in an environment of falling credit. The rate hike scenario allows CaixaBank – like the rest of the sector – to pay more for the same credits it had already granted. Gortázar, however, indicated that it is not possible to know what part of the increase in the interest margin corresponds directly to the rate hike. This interest margin, which is the result of the purely banking activity of collecting for money lent and paying for money deposited by customers, increased by 60.7%, up to 7,364 million.
The good evolution of margins compensated for the drop in commission income, which was 5.3%. They fell because the bank stopped charging institutional customers for keeping money on deposit during the years when rates were negative.
The results already include the payment of the temporary bank tax of 373 million. Gortázar assured that, along with the 85 million from the deposit tax and the 1,635 from companies, the tax bill paid by the bank is close to 2.1 billion, which is equivalent to 36% of the profit.
As has happened to other Spanish entities, the rate hike has also had the negative effect of reducing the credit portfolio. In the case of CaixaBank, it has been reduced by 1.7%, because mortgages fell by 3.9% due to "amortizations and less production". The drop has been offset by the better evolution of the business and consumer portfolio. Gortázar's forecasts are that the Euribor, which is currently above 4%, will begin a decline to be near 3% or 3.2% for an extended period of time.
Likewise, the CEO said that they are preparing an update of their current strategic plan that will include an upward revision of their shareholder remuneration policy.
