Great News – Spanish banks increase profits by 9% to 6 billion euro despite higher tax

The six main Spanish banks -Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja Banco- obtained a joint profit of around 6,2 billion euro in the first quarter of the year, according to analyst estimates, which represents an advance of 9.2% compared to the same period in 2023, despite the Government taxing them more.

The extraordinary tax devised by the Government and that the entities account for in the first three months of the year, although they have appealed it, will not prevent the results of the sector from continuing to grow at an interannual rate, thanks to improving income.

So far, only Bankinter has published its accounts, which reported a profit of 200.8 million, 8.7% more than a year before, and a record for a first quarter, all after deducting 95 million for the payment of the controversial tax on the sector.

Next it will be the turn of Banco Sabadell, the group led by César González-Bueno announces the results obtained in the first three months of the year on Thursday, when the consensus of analysts estimates that it earned 234 million, 14% more than in the same period of 2023.

In the last week of April, analysts expect that BBVA will publish a first quarter result of 1,9 billion euros from Monday the 29th, which would be 2.6% higher than the same period a year earlier.

On that same day, Unicaja Banco will reveal its data and, according to the average of the estimates, the result from January to March would be 55 million, 159% more than a year before, making it the entity with the highest increase in profits.

The next day, Tuesday, Banco Santander and CaixaBank will present their accounts. In the case of the first, analysts expect the quarterly results of the group chaired by Ana Botín to grow by 9.25%, to 2,8 billion, while those of CaixaBank would advance more than 16%, to reach 994 million.

If these figures are confirmed, the large Spanish banks earned a total of 6,2 billion in the first three months of 2024, 9.2% more than the 5,7 billion they achieved in the first quarter of a year before.