Integrated Corporate Report 2017
STRATEGIC LINE 2
Achieving a RoTE (return on tangible equity) of between 9% and 11% in 2018.
Strengthening the Bank’s commercial leadership within the Spanish market.
CaixaBank achieved a significant increase in profit, with a ROTE of 8.4% At a time of heavy pressure on profitability, banking income continued to grow, thanks to increased customer engagement, the contribution of the insurance business and diversification of the loan portfolio towards the consumer and business segments.
The bank maintained a stable cost base and managed to bring its cost-to-income ratio into line with its strategic objectives. Meanwhile, it continued to reduce loan-loss provisions as credit quality steadily improved, which has also helped improve the Bank’s profitability.
In terms of commercial positioning, CaixaBank strengthened its leadership in individual banking in 2017. Its model of providing added-value advice specially segmented for each type of customer has allowed it to increase its customer penetration rate for yet another year, along with its market shares for direct deposit of salaries and customer funds (particularly pension plans and savings insurance). At present, one out of every three Spaniards is a CaixaBank customer and the bank’s market share for the direct deposit of salaries is now 26.3%, 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous year.
Meanwhile, BPI made a sizeable contribution to the CaixaBank Group’s figures. Both the profitability and business volume of the Portuguese bank improved in 2017.
Increasing customer engagement by offering value-added advisory services.
Continuing to diversify the loan portfolio towards the consumer and business segments.
To contain the cost base.
Reducing the NPL ratio while improving credit quality.
Creating value at BPI.
2017, a year marked by taking control of BPI, commercial strength and lower cost of risk.
In 2017, the CaixaBank Group made profits of €1,684 million (+60.9% vs. 2016), the best annual results in its history. The integration of the Portuguese bank had an impact on most of the lines in the income statement.
Net interest income stands at €4,746 million (+14.2% vs. 2016). This was impacted in particular the integration of BPI (+9.1%) by lower finance costs for retail savings and institutional finance. It was also due to the contraction of revenues following the reduction in returns on the loan portfolio, as a result of lower market rates and smaller volumes in the fixed income portfolio.
Income from the investee portfolio stood at €653 million (-21.0% vs. 2016), impacted mainly by changes in the scope and lower dividend income.
Fee and commission income made a strong contribution of €2,499 million (+19.5% vs. 2016, +6.3% excluding BPI), driven by higher revenues from commercial efforts.
The gains/losses on financial assets and liabilities and others amounted to €282 million, in a year of lower non-recurring income.
There was sustained growth in revenues from insurance contracts, to €472 million (+51.9% vs. 2016).
Gross income totalled €8.222 million (+5.1% in 2017).
Recurring expenses following the integration of BPI stood at €4,467 million (+1.0% at constant scope).
2017 also saw €110 million in non-recurring costs associated with BPI, whilst there were €121 million in non-recurring costs in 2016 due to the collective labour agreement to optimise the workforce.
Operating income stood at €3,645 million, with a cost to income ratio stripping out extraordinary expenses of 54.3%.
Loan-loss provisions amounted to €799 million. The annual change (+154.2%) came partly in response to the release of €676 million in provisions from the loan portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2016, following the development of internal models compliant with the terms of Circular 4/2016. Stripping out this impact in 2016, the annual performance would have been -19.3%.
The Group’s cost of risk fell by 12 basis points in the year, to 0.34 %.
Gains/(losses) on disposal of assets and others essentially shows the results of one-off transactions completed during the year, along with proceeds from sales of assets and write-downs mainly in relation to the real estate portfolio. In 2017, this also included €256 million resulting from the business combination with BPI.
Other charges to provisions in 2017 included, inter alia, €455 million in connection with early retirements and €154 million in write-downs on SAREB exposure. In 2016, provisions of €160 million and €110 million were recognised for early retirements and floor clauses, respectively.
Following termination of the acceptance period for the takeover bid, 7 February 2017 was established as the effective date of takes control of BPI. CaixaBank’s stake in BPI has been recognised under the full consolidation method since 1 February 2017 (having previously been reported under the equity method), thus affecting the comparability of the information.
Commercial strength with impressive market share for the main retail products and services.
Total assets amounted to €383,186 million (+10.1% vs. 2016) following the incorporation of BPI.
Customer funds amounted to €349,458 million, an increase or 15.0% on 2016, following the incorporation of BPI.
Funds in CaixaBank amounted to €314,495 million, +3.5% vs. 2016. Highlights included:
- The development of balance sheet funds (+2.8%) was marked by an increase in demand deposits (+10.9%) and a decrease in term deposits* (–31.1%), against a backdrop of rock bottom interest rates.
- Growth in liabilities under insurance contracts (+13.7% vs. 2016), resulting from the commercial success of the CaixaBankFuturo programme.
- Assets under management (mutual funds and pension plans) amounted to €88,018 million (+7.5% vs. 2016), based on the success of the campaigns carried out, the wide range of products offered and the performance of the markets.
- CaixaBank’s large shares of assets under management, the number of mutual fund participants and pension plan assets under management are also noteworthy.
Gross loans and advances to customers stood as €223,951 million (+9.3% vs. 2016) following the incorporation of BPI.
CaixaBank’s loan portfolio amounted to €200,956 million (-1.9% vs. 2016). The performance of the various segments was impacted by household deleveraging, the reduction of exposure to the real estate developer sector and increased funding of companies.
There was a 22.4% increase in new consumer loans following the marketing activities in the year.
Proximity to the customer is one of the key strengths of the CaixaBank’s Group’s value proposition, which dedicates 72% of is lending to retail financing (individuals and SMEs).
Total liquid assets stood at €72,775 million at 31 December 2017.
The loan-to-deposits ratio stood at 107.7%, reflecting the solid structure of retail financing.
Ratings
| Agency | Long term | Short term | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard&Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Positive |
| Fitch | BBB | F2 | Positive |
| Moody’s | Baa1 | P-2 | Stable |
| DBRS | A (low) | R-1(low) | Stable |