Bankinter reports a profit of 291 million euros in the first quarter of 2026, up 8%, with growth across all business lines and continued expansion of its customer franchise

Bankinter Group has entered 2026 with profitable, well-balanced business growth, improved margins and greater income diversification across all the geographies in which it operates. This positive performance is underpinned by a distinctive business model, a high-quality balance sheet and rigorous discipline in both costs and risks, as illustrated by the strength of its key performance indicators, including cost-to-income, solvency, profitability and asset quality.

More precisely, Bankinter Group achieved a pre-tax profit of 410 million euros in the first quarter of 2026, up 8.2% on the same period of the previous year, while net profit stood at 291 million euros, up 7.6% on the first quarter of 2025.

Looking now at the various performance ratios, return on equity (ROE) remains strong at 18.8%, while return on tangible equity (ROTE) is firmly established at  20%, ranking it among the best in Europe.

Meanwhile, the CET1 capital ratio stood at 12.96% at the end of the quarter, well above the minimum requirement set for Bankinter by the ECB, which was 8.47% at March of this year.

The NPL and coverage ratios showcase the strength of Bankinter’s business model. The NPL ratio stood at 1.92%, 23 basis points lower than a year earlier, with a coverage ratio of 69.5%.

The cost-to-income ratio continues to steadily improve, keeping Bankinter among the sector leaders, supported by disciplined cost control, a more streamlined organisational structure, and the strategic use of AI in managing internal processes. At the end of the quarter, the cost-to-income ratio stood at a compelling 35.4%.

Key balance sheet figures

The Group’s total assets at 31 March 2026 amounted to €136,678 million, up 10.4% on the same period of the previous year.

The loan book amounted to 84,723 million euros, up 4.9%. 

Meanwhile, customer funds under management began the year with growth that continues the strong momentum seen in 2024, rising by 7.3% to reach 154,044 million euros. Within this, off-balance-sheet managed funds (proprietary and third-party investment funds, pension funds, wealth management, SICAVs and alternative investments) once again delivered a strong performance. These higher value-added products total 69,124 million euros, up 17%. 

Retail funds, primarily current accounts and deposits, remained broadly stable compared with the previous year: 84,920 million euros.

Account margins

Growth in business volumes, effective management of spreads, a strategic focus on investment products (offering higher fee-based returns for the bank), and an increasingly diversified geographic footprint have driven the strong performance across all income statement margins, all of which exceeded those recorded in the same period of 2025.

Net interest income rose by 5.5% compared with the first quarter of last year, reaching 570.6 million euros and standing above the levels recorded over the previous five quarters.

Gross operating income, which encompasses all revenue streams, stood at 779 million euros, up 6.5%, driven by a strong performance in fee and commission income, largely from transactional services and advisory and asset management activities. 

Fee and commission income amounted to 257 million euros, up 9.9%, with asset management and brokerage services contributing a substantial 146 million euros, up 18.1% driven by higher activity in these businesses. After deducting commissions paid to partners in the Agent Network and Partner Banking, net fee and commission income stood at 203 million euros, up 8.1% on the first quarter of 2025.

After deducting operating costs of 276 million euros—reflecting a moderate 3% increase, below the growth in revenue—profit for the quarter stood at 502.9 million euros, representing an 8.7% increase over the reporting period. 

Robust growth, with greater diversification in volumes and income

Bankinter’s highly consistent and clearly defined commercial strategy across all its businesses and markets, combined with the strength of its value proposition, has enabled the bank to build on the growth achieved in the previous year, increasing its market share across all markets. 

This business volume (including the loan book, customer deposits and assets under management) stood at 238,767 million euros at 31 March 2026, 6.5% higher than in the same quarter of 2025, reflecting the success of the bank’s commercial activity across all product categories.

Within this strategy, Spain remains by far the market with the highest level of activity for Bankinter Group, with a loan book of 69,000 million euros, up 3%; 77,000 million euros in retail customer funds; and off-balance-sheet managed assets plus assets under custody climbing by 15% to 145,000 million euros. Pre-tax profit for Bankinter Spain was 10% higher than in the same period of 2025, reaching 342 million euros.

As for Portugal, Bankinter has, over its ten years of presence in the country—now marking this milestone—consolidated a sound, profitable and increasingly well-balanced balance sheet. The loan book currently stands at 11,000 million euros, up 9% on the first quarter of 2025. Customer funds rose by 10% to reach 10,000 million euros, while off-balance-sheet managed funds and assets under custody increased by a compelling 27% to 12,000 million euros. Gross income in Portugal totalled 96 million euros, up 7%, while pre-tax profit stood at 56 million euros, in line with the first quarter of 2025.

Over this past decade of operations in Portugal, Bankinter has established a robust and profitable business model. Over that period, the number of customers has doubled, while business volume has tripled. The cost-to-income ratio, which stood at 124% in 2016, has improved significantly to 33%, standing below even that of the Spanish business. Notably, pre-tax profit has increased twentyfold when comparing the 2016 figure with the year-end 2025 figure of 210 million euros.

In Ireland, where the local bank now operates under the Bankinter brand, it manages a loan book of 5,000 million euros, up 23% over the period under review, with a very low NPL ratio of 0.3%. Within this portfolio, 4,000 million euros relate to mortgages, which have grown by 27% thanks to the distinctive offering the bank has brought to this market, while the remainder comprises consumer lending, which has seen growth of 8%.

Business lines and customer segments

Looking now at the different business lines, Corporate Banking delivered robust growth at the start of the year, enabling it to continue gaining market share. The loan book in this segment totalled 37,500 million euros, up 8% on the same quarter of 2025 and comparing very favourably with the 3% growth in the loan book for the wider sector, based on February data from the Bank of Spain. The international business remains a key driver within Bankinter’s corporate loan book, accounting for 12,000 million euros of the total, up 17% in the year.

As for Wealth and Retail Banking, which encompasses business with individual customers, assets under management closed the quarter at 155,000 million euros, up 13% on the same date in 2025. 

Within this total, 84,000 million euros relates to Wealth Management clients, marking an increase of around 10,000 million euros compared with a year earlier. Meanwhile, assets held by clients in the other segment, Retail Banking, totalled 71,000 million euros, compared with 63,000 million euros a year earlier.

A key product within Wealth and Retail Banking, and indeed a key customer acquisition channel, is current accounts, where Bankinter has a well-established value proposition, with flagship products such as its salary account and digital account. In this area, the figures at the end of the quarter show very strong performance, with balances rising by 47% compared with the same period of 2025 to reach 27,000 million euros.

Turning to the mortgage business, new lending was down on the figure for what was a very strong first quarter of 2025. This decline also reflects a strategic decision to prioritise profitable, sustainable growth, with a more selective approach to both transactions and customers, while stepping up activity in those markets offering the greatest potential and returns. Accordingly, while new lending volumes in Spain were lower than in the same period of the previous year, Ireland and Portugal recorded growth of 37% and 8%, respectively. As a result, the Group’s mortgage book rose 4% to reach 38,600 million euros. 

Meanwhile, the asset management business delivered another strong performance in the quarter, in line with the previous two years. The largest share relates to investment funds—both proprietary and third-party—distributed by the bank. In proprietary investment funds, the bank holds assets of 20,107 million euros, up 21%, while third-party funds amount to 29,419 million euros, revealing growth of 18.8% over the period.

Pension funds closed the quarter at 5,020 million euros, up 14.2%. Wealth management and SICAVs amounted to 9,360 million euros, up 14.5%. And alternative investments, where the bank leads the market in the Iberian Peninsula, ended the period with assets of 5,218 million euros.

Meanwhile, securities held in the bank’s custody, including both fixed income and equities, stood at 87,849 million euros, up 14.7% in the period.

Further highlights include the two strategic transactions carried out during the quarter by Bankinter Investment, the bank’s alternative investment arm. The first of these was the integration of Plenium Partners SGEIC, a partner since 2017 and a leading player in renewable energy, while the second was the acquisition of a 64% stake in French asset manager Access Capital Partners, one of Europe’s leading alternative investment firms, particularly in infrastructure and private equity.

Both transactions reflect a long-term strategic vision to build a leading alternative investment platform with greater scale, specialisation and pan-European reach, enabling broader access to investment opportunities, further diversification across strategies and geographies, accelerated growth, and access to a wider investor base. 

_{Important note: The financial information contained in this document has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This document also includes certain Alternative Performance Measures (APMs), as defined in the Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in October 2015 (ESMA/2015/1415). Bankinter uses certain APMs, which have not been audited to allow users to better understand the Company’s financial performance. APMs should be regarded as additional information. They do not replace financial information prepared under IFRS.}

_{Furthermore, the way in which Bankinter defines and calculates these measures may differ from other similar measures calculated by other companies and, therefore, may not be comparable. The ESMA Guidelines define APMs as a financial measure of historical or future financial performance, financial position or cash flows, other than a financial measure defined or specified in the applicable financial reporting framework. To learn more about the APMs used and the reconciliation of certain indicators, please see the relevant quarterly financial report of Bankinter, which can be found in Excel format on its website under Shareholder and Investor Relations/Financial Information/Quarterly Financial Reports.}