Bankinter Portugal

Double-digit growth in income and profits

Bankinter Portugal continued to grow at a steady pace in 2024. Its pre-tax profit rose to 195.2 million euros, a 17.9% increase as compared to 2023. The gross operating income increased by 13.0%, to 346.2 million euros, while profit lines increased by 15.4%, to 235.5 million euros. Operating costs, meanwhile, rose by 8.4 million euros to 110.8 million euros, largely due to the impact of salary increases, new hires, technological investments and inflation.

The high pace of activity led to growth followed by a considerable improvement in the cost-to-income ratio, which stood at 32.3%, an improvement of 139 basis points when compared to the year 2023. The NPL ratio stood at 1.32%, which represents a slight increase of 0.07%. However, this figure is better than the Portuguese market's rate of 2.6% during the third quarter of 2024, according to the Bank of Portugal's figures.

With regard to the contribution to the gross operating income by business areas, the Commercial Retail Banking area represented 47.80%, Corporate & SME Banking represented 39.14% and Bankinter Consumer Finance 13.06%. The details of the main activities of the subsidiary are as follows:

Commercial Banking. The strategic lines of business registered significant growth. There was also a notable increase in off-balance sheet resources, reaching 780 million euros, representing a 15.2% increase. The credit portfolio also evolved favourably, with an increase of 6.7%. Another distinguishing feature was the dynamism in customer acquisition and management, with a growing emphasis on the exclusively digital profile. In this sense, 2024 was a year during which a series of tools were developed, such as the cognitive assistant (BIA - Bankinter Interactive Assistant), which improves the experience and effectiveness of the customer service. With regard to products, the mortgage loan offering was enhanced with an omni-channel solution, which allows customers to choose between digital and physical options throughout the process.

Corporate & SME Banking. A year on, the Corporate network's turnover grew (+14.9%), hitting the 3.9 billion euros mark, in a context of strong acquisition dynamics, with the number of customers under management once again increasing by double digits (+15.6%). The gross operating income increased by 72.2%. In the area of medium-sized enterprises, there was an increase in the volume of business managed, up to 2.2 billion euros (+12.6%). The Business segment reached 2.8 billion euros in managed business volume and 1.8 billion euros in total resources. For its part, International Business completed one of its best years, despite geopolitical tensions. Revenue increased by 39.3% compared to 2023.

Bankinter Investment. Following its differentiation strategy, in 2024 Bankinter Investment structured and distributed three private equity funds in Portugal in sectors as diverse as agriculture, real estate in OECD countries and funds of funds, achieving a total placement of 196 million euros among Portuguese investors in six years. In addition, Bankinter Investment structured Greenvolt's debt issue (50 million euros) on Spain's MARF. In the area of mergers and acquisitions, it provided advice to the Magnum fund on its concentration strategy in the fertiliser sector.

Bankinter Consumer Finance. It is worth noting the growth of the gross operating income by more than 50% as compared to the figures of 2023, as well as the growth of over 15% in the loan business volume (gross production) as compared to 2023, as well as the credit risk exposure, exceeding 289 million euros in balances granted. With regard to payment methods, self-service features for customers have been improved with the launch of online debit and credit card applications, available on the website and in the app, as well as the options to pay in instalments with their current accounts. In the personal loan business, Crédito Expresso was launched, a fully online product, whose objective is to facilitate any short-term liquidity needs for customers.

Bankinter Asset Management. Despite competition in the term deposit and similar product segment, the area benefited from the recovery of the financial markets, with assets under management at the end of the reporting period worth 1.3 billion euros, representing an 11% increase. In the investment funds segment, the volume under management was of approximately 408 million euros, 14% more than in 2023. In the third-party portfolio management business, the amount of assets under management was of 868 million euros, a 10% increase. In this case, the recovery of financial markets more than offset for the lack of new business, due to strong competition from term deposits.

Bankinter Life Insurance. It was a year of strong growth. Issued premiums increased by 108% when compared to 2023, i.e., performing much better than the market, which stood at 37%. Such a significant growth demonstrates the resilience and confidence of customers in risk and investment products. It is also worth highlighting the success of the guaranteed return capital investment insurance, with an increase of 101%, taking advantage of the positive trends in interest rates. Life insurance linked to consumer and business credit also performed very positively, with growth of 56% and 45%, respectively. In addition, opportunities in the stock and bond markets were leveraged for customers with a less conservative loans profile, with high returns for their subscribers.