Bankinter, the most resilient listed bank in Spain and the eurozone in an adverse scenario, according to EBA stress tests.

Bankinter has emerged as the most resilient listed bank in Spain and the eurozone in an adverse scenario, according to stress tests carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA), in cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), on the leading financial institutions of the continent. This total includes 64 banks, representing 75% of EU banking assets.

According to the tests, the CET1 capital ratio would suffer a 56 basis point impact at the end of the projection horizon in the adverse scenario, the lowest among Spanish banks and also the lowest among listed banks in the eurozone. The average impact of the adverse scenario on the solvency of all the entities analysed is 370 basis points.

These purpose of these exercises is to gauge how well banks are able to absorb losses and remain solvent in the event of a major economic crisis, with significant declines in GDP and high inflation and interest rates. The tests show the impact on bank capital of two hypothetical macroeconomic scenarios, one mild and the other far more severe.

The proposed economic scenario covers a 3-year time horizon (2025–2027) assuming a hypothetical worsening of geopolitical tensions in which persistent negative trade and confidence shocks have adverse effects on private consumption and investment, both nationally and globally. The scenario is designed to ensure a significant severity of various macroeconomic and financial shocks across all EU countries in order to assess the resilience of the European banking system to a severely deteriorated macroeconomic environment.

It is worth noting that the adverse scenario proposed this time is harsher than in the 2023 edition, with a cumulative recession in the EU of 6.3% between 2025 and 2027, 0.3 percentage points higher than the one considered two years ago and even harsher than those used in the previous editions of 2018, 2020 and 2021.

According to the test results, Bankinter would sustain an impact, or capital depletion, of 56 basis points, measured on a phased-in basis, and 55 basis points on a fully-loaded basis, comparing the starting point (December 2024, recalculated under the new capital regulations – CRR3) with the CET1 in the last year of the projection horizon in the adverse scenario. ”” This figure would position Bankinter as the most resilient listed bank in Spain and the eurozone in an adverse scenario and, therefore, with the least impact on its solvency in such a scenario.

It is worth noting that Bankinter has projected a pay-out of 50% for both scenarios and in all years, in line with its usual practice.

According to this year's EBA exercise, designed under common methodological assumptions which allow the comparison of results between entities, Bankinter would maintain its CET1 fully-loaded capital ratio at the end of the period in question, in 2027, which is comfortably above the minimum regulatory requirements.

As a result, Bankinter remains in the leadership position secured in the previous edition of these same stress tests, published in July 2023, when it had the lowest impact among Spanish banks in the stressed scenario and the second lowest impact among the European banks analysed, confirming the Bank's excellent position in terms both of robustness and the solvency of its balance sheet.