Bankinter achieves a record-breaking profit of 376 million euros, an increase of 36.3%, in the year of its 50th anniversary

The Bankinter Group obtains a net profit of 375.9 million euros in 2015, and a profit before tax of 520.3 million, comprising increases of 36.3% and 32.5%, respectively, compared to last year.

This constitutes the highest level of profits obtained by the bank up until now, mainly coming from recurring business with customers, and this also comes in a year which marks 50 years having passed since the institution was founded. Similarly, return on invested capital reached sector highs, with an ROE of 10.9%.

At the same time, Bankinter maintains its traditional competitive edge in terms of asset quality and solvency levels.

Thus, for the sixth successive quarter Bankinter has reduced its non-performing loans rate, down to 4.1% compared to 4.7% a year ago, constituting less than half of the sector average, which was placed at 10.3% in November. The gross value of the foreclosed property asset portfolio was, on 31 December 2015, 531.3 million euros, 9.3% less than a year ago, and its coverage was 40.1%.

With regards to solvency, Bankinter maintains a solid CET1 fully loaded capital ratio of 11.6%, among the highest in the sector and well above regulatory demands.

Comparably, the bank has improved its retail liquidity, increasing the ratio of deposits to loans for yet another year up to 83.5% compared to 78.3% a year ago; and it has a liquidity gap of 8.5 billion euros, 2 billion less than in 2014. In the same way, maturities of wholesale issuances pending until 2019 total 4 billion euros, for which the bank has liquid assets valued at 9.1 billion euros in order to face and a capacity to issue mortgage debentures of 5.1 billion.

Resistance of all margins

The results presented by the Bankinter Group at the close of 2015 are underpinned by an improvement of all margins.

The Bankinter interest margin shows resilience, despite the rate environment and has grown at the end of the year by 15.1% compared to 2014, up to 869.5 million euros, supported by the improvement of volumes and the reduction of the resource cost. It is notable that the interest margin in Q415 is higher than the rest of the quarters of the year, and also 5.1% higher than the margin of Q414.

The gross margin reached 1,568.8 million euros at the end of the year, representing 8.3% more than in 2014, mainly due to the good progress of the fees, with a net amount up by 6.3% compared to last year. This was brought about by good results of businesses including equity and asset management, despite the evolution of the markets in Q415, with off-balance sheet resources that, in addition to growing by 24.7% in volume, progressed to a large extent in favour of the products providing the highest added-value to the customer and, as a result, the highest return for the bank.

And with regards to the margin before provisions, at the close of the year it stood at 807.8 million euros, 10.7% more than in 2014, comprising an acceptable figure taking into account the growth of expenses towards the costs of implementing new businesses and optimising the technological systems. Despite this, the cost/income ratio of the banking activity with depreciation has continued to improve for the fifth consecutive year, down to 43.7%.

With regard to the Bankinter balance sheet, the figure for total assets at the end of 2015 was 58,659.8 million euros, 2.3% above last year's figure.

The total volume of credit to customers grew again in net terms for the second consecutive year, unlike the sector as a whole, highlighting the steady reply from the bank to the demand for financing from families and companies. This credit volume reached 44,182.6 million euros, an increase of 4.1% compared to last year.

Controlled resources experienced a remarkable growth, up to 65,317.5 million euros, 17.8% more than at the close of 2014, with particular emphasis on the retail resources, which grew by 14.2%, and managed resources off the balance sheet (investment funds, pension funds and asset management), which grew by 24.7% compared to the previous year.

Customer business, the main contributor to income

The results of fiscal year 2015 highlight the good progress of recurring business with customers, which is the highest contributor to income, with 87%.

The growth trend is especially significant in businesses to which the bank has been committing in recent years, including the most consolidated businesses such as Private Banking and Corporate Banking, as well as others that the bank has recently fomented: Banca Personal and, above all, Consumer Financing.

In Private Banking, new net worth attracted in the year has totalled 5.5 billion euros, reaching a total volume of 28 billion euros, compared to 23.1 billion managed last year (an increase of 21.2%), with a growth of 22% in the number of active clients.

Similarly, in SICAV business, Bankinter is still one of the leading players in the market, with a total of 461 companies at the year's end, comprising an increase of 20%. This figure places Bankinter in second place in the national ranking by number of companies, with a market share of 13.5%.

As for the Company segment, credit investment has grown for yet another year with 5.6% compared to a year ago, reaching a balance of 19.7 billion euros on 31 December 2015. Furthermore, the growth in active customers of the sector amounted to 6.9%, in other words: 5,700 new active companies in the year.

In insurance business, Direct Line consolidated its growth in premiums and in policies, maintaining the return of the business, with an ROE of 29.8%, and the best combined ratio in the market, at 86.7%. At the close of the this year the total number of policies reached 2.37 million, 6.4% more than a year ago, and the growth of the home insurance was most notable in yet another quarter: an increase of 18%.

Another business that Bankinter considers strategic is Consumer Financing, implemented via the subsidiary Bankinter Consumer Finance, which had a lustrous 2015. Thus, the consumer investment figure reached a volume of 719 million euros at the end of the year, 71% more than in 2014. In reference to attracting new accounts, there was a year-on-year increase of 121%, coming in at 190,000 accounts.

In the commercial sector, it is worth emphasising the good progress of certain financial products to which the bank has committed in recent years that generate a stronger link with the customer, such as mortgages and the salary account. Thus, new mortgages experienced a positive trend, in line with last year, with a new production volume of 1,857 million euros, 18.4% more than in 2014. According to INE (Spanish Statistical Office) data to October 2015, Bankinter has a 7% market share of new mortgage production.

And with regards to the portfolio of salary accounts, the net balance at the close of 2015 stood at 4,199 million euros, 22.5% more than 12 months ago.

Lastly, the volume of assets deposited in the online platform COINC, one of the main ventures of the institution in digital banking, is a significant factor, since after three years of operations it has already come to exceed 1 billion euros (47% more than in 2014) from a total of 84,000 customers.

KEY FIGURES 2015

(1) To banking activity with depreciation.