Bankinter's chair highlights the strength of the Bank's business and shareholder base and its ability to continue growing independently.

In her address at the annual general meeting today, Bankinter chair María Dolores Dancausa highlighted the Bank's resilience and ability to overcome all types of scenarios and under any regulatory environment, circumstances which it has overcome “very satisfactorily” and independently since its found in 1965.

Looking ahead to the future, Ms Dancausa pledged to continue working “with perseverance, ingenuity and innovation” to overcome “the challenges we face in this uncertain and rapidly changing world. Geopolitical changes; Changes in technology and its application to our sector; Economic changes; Changes everywhere”.

As she explained, “Bankinter has the necessary business strength and robust shareholder base to continue on the path of independence we have followed in our 60 years of existence. And we have the privilege of being able to decide for ourselves. And that, in the times we live in, is truly exceptional.”

Maria Dolores Dancausa described the 2024 results as “the best in our history” and highlighted the contribution of “more than 6,600 professionals who have put their talent at the service of Bankinter”. She went on to mention some of the indicators in which the Bank is sector leader: efficiency, which reached 36.3%, “the highest of all Spanish banks”; “inviable profitability figures”, with an RoE of 18%; the lowest non-performing ratio of all listed banks, at 2.1%; and an excellent capital adequacy ratio of 12.4%, “well above the requirements set by our regulators”.

Ms Dancausa reiterated Bankinter's positive figures and ratios in the context of an economic and geopolitical environment of profound transformations with a deeply uncertain outcome, focused mainly on the armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East but also including “the protectionist tendencies of various countries that have revealed the weakness and vulnerability of the European Union”, which in her opinion needs “greater determination both in the expression and articulation of what it wants to achieve and greater clarity regarding the mechanisms to achieve it”.

Focusing on Spain, she praised the positive GDP growth of 3.2%, higher than that of other economies in our environment, “favoured by the fall in energy prices, the notable increase in exports and the excellent performance of the tourism sector”, and this despite structural weaknesses that have yet to remedied, such as productivity.

However, the President considered that for these macroeconomic indicators to be satisfactory and translate into real well-being, it is essential that they respond to the needs of the population and that this improvement be reflected in the daily lives of numerous families who continue to face significant difficulties in essential areas such as housing, employment and their income. “”

The value of Sustainability and Innovation.

Ms Dancausa began her address with words of remembrance and praise for both Bankinter's founder and driving force, Jaime Botín, who passed away in August, and her predecessor, Pedro Guerrero. She also alluded to the Bank's track record in sustainability and innovation. Sustainability is firmly integrated in the Bank's value chain and this year has seen significant progress on issues such as “the marketing of sustainable funds and the financing of renewable energy operations”, she noted.

Both the chair and the chief executive officer highlighted the innovative nature of Bankinter, praising the activity of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation which, as Ms Dancausa said, “has promoted innovation and entrepreneurship in Spain since 2003 and has become an important global think tank”; As well as in the words of Gloria Ortiz, who considered that “innovation, as well as the efficient application of technology to our business, are values on which our strategy has revolved over time”.

Achieve a net profit of 1 billion euros.

At her first annual general meeting, Bankinter chief executive officer Gloria Ortiz reviewed the main figures obtained by the Group in 2024 which, as she pointed out, “have continued the growth path of the previous year and have once again beaten our own records”. The CEO described the growth as “purely organic, achieved thanks to a greater commercial drive, a focus on high-value activities and business streams, and increasingly diversified and dynamic activity”.

This dynamism is reflected in the volume of business with customers, which reached 223,000 million euros in the year, an increase of 9%. The loan book grew by 4.2% to 80,097 million euros, while off-balance-sheet managed funds ended the year at 58,000 million euros, up 22% on the close of 2023.

Regarding geographic diversification, she noted that although Spain remains the largest contributor to the Group's pre-tax profit at 82%, Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg together now account for 18% of revenue.

The Bank's chief executive officer believes that these good results reveal multiple strengths that “have consolidated a clearly differentiated project over the years”. These include a stable and loyal shareholder base, a dedicated workforce of 6,600 employees committed to the Bank's objectives—for whom she had heartfelt words of praise—a credible and reputable brand in the market, and an innovative spirit that is inherent to Bankinter and on which its strategy has historically been based.

Regarding 2025, the chief executive officer predicted a similar interest-rate environment to the current one, which the Bank will be able to offset with higher volumes of investment, active management of its margins, and the strength of its fee-based business. To this end, she noted, “We will continue to execute the strategy with discipline and determination, efficiently allocating capital to invest in business lines with the greatest potential and attractive profitability, ensuring that each line offers the best value proposition and experience for our customers and simplifying and mechanising processes to achieve a scalable and efficient business model.

Gloria Ortiz expressed her conviction that she could repeat the success story of 2024 and break the glass ceiling of €1 billion in net profit, which was unattainable just a few years ago “.”

In this regard, the bank's CEO referred to a series of strategic decisions that should lay the foundations for future growth “.” The first has to do with the firm commitment to digital banking and the creation of a twelfth organisation in Spain to integrate EVO's business and customers that should become “the driving force behind customer growth in the retail market in an efficient and profitable manner”. Secondly, the creation of the branch in Ireland, “which will allow us to increase our value proposition for Irish customers”. And thirdly, boosting digitalization in Portugal to improve the quality of service to Portuguese customers and the productivity and efficiency of operations.

Complex geopolitical and economic environment.

Gloria Ortiz also alluded to the circumstances of the current environment, in which geopolitics has once again taken centre stage. In terms of the economic environment, she noted that 2024 was “marked by the slowdown of the Chinese economy, the dynamism of the US economy and anaemic growth in the European Union, with Germany in recession and France experiencing very weak growth and serious governance problems”. And, paradoxically, with the countries formerly called “PIIGS”, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, as the most dynamic economies in the Union.

She also referred to the six rate cuts introduced by the ECB during the second half of the year, which “made it difficult for banks to generate income”. However, she praised the sector its ability to compensate for this environment and obtain good results “with greater commercial drive, the active search for new business niches and an adaptive resilience that has become a hallmark of Spanish banks”.

Appointment of two new independent directors.

Lastly, the Bankinter Annual General Meeting approved all the resolutions included in its agenda, namely Among them, the appointment of two new independent external directors, Alfonso Villanueva Rodríguez and Juan Antonio Zufiría; the re-election of Marcelino Botín-Sanz de Sautuola and Fernando Masaveu Herrero as external proprietary directors; and the appointment of Cristina García-Peri as independent external director.

With these changes, the number of the Company's directors is set at 12, with a total of seven independent directors and the percentage of women is 58.33%, exceeding the targets set by national and international recommendations and best practices.

Bankinter continues to distribute a pay-out of 50%, a policy endorsed by the annual general meeting, which approved the payment of 476 million euros in dividends. Taking into account the payments made in June and December last year, the Bank will distribute 12 euro cents per share on 3 April, representing a total of 0.526 euros per share, equivalent to the aforementioned 476 million euros.